Pawns of the Seven
by HardBoiled
Summary: A cupid shooting Dean and Bela is only the start of their problems as the two of them and Sam are being used by the seven archangels to start the apocalypse for their own individual reasons.
1. Bad Day at Black Rock

(Inspired by EventRider87's To Hell and Back & A Different Choice along with BeccaBean's Destiny Rising. Will include several new angels and demons including three new archangels, hence the title. I was a big fan of Season 1-5 and while I enjoyed some things in Season 6 mostly Balthazar, I won't be taking any of it into account and anything Season 7-9. I will also not be completely accurate in each episode just so everything's not completely predictable.)

**Queens, New York**

"Because you shook on 1.5," snapped Bela Talbot into her cell phone. Luke may have been one of her regular customers but he never ceased to piss her off. Always trying to change the price or even worse sending someone else to steal the merchandise from her. Of course Bela hadn't been in the supernatural black market for as long as she did by being stupid or unprepared. More than once she had to "convince" whatever thugs she ran into to get a new line of work. The fact that some them ended up in the morgue was their own fault.

"1 mil is my final offer," replied Luke, not giving her an inch.

"When then maybe I should take it somewhere else," threatened Bela. She headed into her kitchen where her Siamese cat Isis sat on the counter. She was Bela's only real friend and watchdog in a sense. No one could break in her apartment without Isis knowing about it. One hiss was all Bela needed to know she had an unwanted guest.

"You listen to me you little…" snapped Luke.

"Don't threaten me Luke," Bela cut him off. "Despite your reputation, you don't scare me." She stared out of her kitchen window, waiting for a response.

"1.5 is reasonable," Luke finally said.

"Well I'm glad you see it that way. I'll see you at the airstrip in an hour," smiled Bela. She hung and used a pair of metal tongs to examine her merchandise. Who knew such a hideous thing could be worth so much? Personally Bela thought Luke was an idiot for paying 1 and a half million for an item that could kill him if he loses it but it was his money to waste along with his life. Isis hissed and immediately Bela shot to the nearby camera monitors. The front entrance and stairwell were clear but that could just mean her unwanted guest simply passed by them before she noticed.

Bela set the rabbit's foot down and reached into her wine fridge, pulling out a small concealed pistol. A distinct sound caught her attention. Damn, it was coming from her alarm controls at the apartment's front door and what was worse was that the alarm wasn't going off. So much for waiting for the police to show up to help. She made her way towards the front door and saw it open, someone was already inside. Bela headed down the hallway towards it, expecting an ambush at any second. She reached her alarm control that was consistently flashing an error sign. It also had a yellow sticky note that the words **Turn Around** were written on it. What the hell? The floor creaked behind her. Instantly Bela swung around, gun raised to see the intruder was a familiar face. "You left without your tip," he said.

Dean Winchester, eldest of the famous Winchester Brothers and son of legendary hunter John Winchester. Bela ran into him and his brother Sam just hours before all of this. The two of them took the rabbit's foot from the two useless prats she hired to steal it from John Winchester's storage locker. Bela later found the boys at a local restaurant and managed to steal the foot from Sam while dressed as a waitress. She thought that was going to be the hardest part of this job but clearly she was wrong.

The two of them kept their guns trained on each other as Dean slowly moved backwards into the living room with Bela following. "You're going to give it back," said Dean with a confident look on his face. Boy was he in for a disappointment.

"Sweetie. No I'm not," smiled Bela.

"Yeah we'll see. Bela right?" asked Dean. Stupid question considering she knew where she lived but Bela felt like playing this little game.

"That's right Dean," answered Bela.

The two came to a halt but neither lowered their weapons. "You do know the thing's cursed right?" Dean stated.

"You'd be surprised what some people would pay for something like that," replied Bela.

"Really?" frowned Dean.

"There's a lucrative market out there. A lot of money to be made," explained Bela. Dean was stunned by her answer which Bela found amusing. A man who hunted ghosts, demons, and werewolves found the idea of a supernatural black market surprising. Bela's smile widened. "You hunters with all those amulets and talismans you use to stop those big bad monsters. Anyone of them could put your children's children through college."

"So you know the truth about what's really going on out there and this is what you decide to do with it? You become a thief?" Dean inquired. That smug and self-righteous look on his face made Bela tempted to bash it with her pistol. How dare he look down on her when he was just as dirty as she was. Hunters were killers and psychopaths, plain and simple. They don't hunt to help people, they do it because they love to kill things. And if they couldn't do that with a monster then they'd be murdering people.

"I procure unique items to a select clientele," objected Bela.

"Yeah a thief," chuckled Dean.

"No a great thief," Bela corrected him, emphasizing great.

The two of them continued their John Woo Mexican standoff, staring down the barrels of their guns at each other. Finally Dean tried to defuse the situation. "Look Bela. My brother touched the foot and when you took it from him, his luck went from…," he explained.

"I know how it works," interrupted Bela.

"So then you know he's gonna die unless we destroy it," pointed out Dean.

Tough luck for Sam then but Bela feigned concern anyways. "Oh. You can have the foot," she said. Bela enjoyed the look of relief on Dean's face and was about to shatter it when suddenly she felt a gentle breeze blow against her face. That was strange, she didn't leave any windows open and it didn't make sense why Dean would open one. But Bela didn't give it a second thought before focusing on her real problem. She was about to demand he pay one and a half million but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to do it. The thought of tormenting Dean like that now horrified her. What the hell was wrong with her?

"In exchange for another one of your father's other boxes," she finally managed to blurt out. It wasn't what she originally wanted to say but it seemed to be the only thing she could get out of her mouth.

Dean's smiled faded. "Forget it. My dad locked those all up for a reason. Speaking of which how the hell did you even find the foot in the first place?" he realized.

Bela gave a simple glance at her Ouija Board which judging from his reason told him a lot of what he needed to know. "I just asked the ghosts of a few of the people it had killed. They were very attuned into its location," she said.

Dean shook his head in disgust. "So you're only out for yourself? It's all about number one."

Damn right she was. Bela learned a long time ago the only person you could truly rely upon was yourself. And once again Winchester thumbing his nose down at Bela which infuriated her. "Being a hunter is so much more noble? A bunch of obsessed-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved," she snapped.

"Well aren't you a glass half full," chuckled Dean.

Bela threw him a look. "We're all going to hell Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride," she said somehow keeping her smile despite the words.

"I actually kinda agree with you there," smiled Dean.

"Okay fun time's over tiger. I have a buyer who's willing to pay me 1.5 million for the foot so unless you're willing to match that, give me something else I can profit from and the foot is yours. You should consider yourself lucky I'm even offering you that," said Bela. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she bartering with him like this? She wasn't going to get a better deal than handing the foot over to Luke. Of course Dean's company was much more preferable then that wealthy old prick.

"Actually it's not luck sweetheart," smiled Dean who held up the rabbit's foot. Bela couldn't believe it. When did he snatch that? "You're not the only one with sticky fingers. If it's any consolation I…" he said before another breeze blew through the room. "…would love to stay and talk but I have to save my brother's life," Dean finally blurted out before rushing towards the door. Bela had a perfect shot to hit him in the back but couldn't pull the trigger. What was going on? Was it that damned rabbit's foot?

"Dean!" shouted Bela who quickly grabbed her Ouija board and ran to the door. She wasn't about to let 1.5 million slip from her grasp.

* * *

Unnoticed by the two humans, Eros watched them rush out of the apartment. Those humans displayed probably the most unique reaction he'd ever seen to his arrows. Dean and Bela weren't going to be the perfect couple right away but given time, the mark Eros left on their hearts would draw them closer and closer together. Personally he was just glad his assignment was over. The Archangel Michael personally gave the cupid his orders, stressing how important this was. Now it was time to return to heaven and report the good news.

* * *

**Buffalo, New York**

Sam finished setting up the fire while Dean scribbled through a few more lottery tickets. He insisted they could get a little bit more out of the dead rabbit thing while they could. Sam wasn't thrilled about it but his older brother won out in the end. He had all the luck on his side and more importantly, the car keys. So they picked up a few more scratch tickets before they arrived at the cemetery. Dean cheered in triumphant as the latest ticket just put them up to 46 grand.

"Dean come on," sighed Sam.

"Back off jinx. I'm bringing home the bacon," said Dean.

"What's gotten into you?" demanded Sam.

Dean glanced up from his tickets. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean you haven't stopped smiling ever since you got back with the foot," pointed out Sam.

"I don't know because we're finally catching a lucky break today. We got the foot, ditched Gordon's goons, and we're up to 46 grand," said Dean.

"Can we just burn that thing already?" grumbled Sam.

"Fine," sighed Dean. He put the scratch tickets away in his coat that was sitting on a nearby headstone. Pulling out the rabbit's foot from his pocket, Dean was about to drop it into the flames. "Say goodbye to Wascawy Wabbit."

The cock of a pistol stopped him cold. Dean spun around to see Bela Talbot aiming a gun at his head. "I think you'll find that belongs to me…or you know whatever," smiled Bela. Son of a bitch how did she find them? Then Dean remembered how she found the rabbit's foot in the first place. The Ouija board. "Put the foot down honey," Bela continued.

Despite the danger she posed at the moment, Dean strangely liked seeing her again. "No," he replied confidently. "You're not gonna shoot anybody. You see I happen to be read people."

"Oh really?" frowned Bela.

"Yeah. You're a thief alright but you're not a killer," nodded Dean.

"Don't test me Dean. I can be quite a bitch when I need to be," said Bela.

"Oh I'm sure," Dean retorted but mentally kicked himself for saying that. It wasn't a good idea to insult someone who had a pistol trained on you.

Bela glared at him and she lowered her gun, firing one round. The bullet never came close to him. It struck the ground beside him but it was clear she missed on purpose. Sam screamed behind him. He turned to his younger brother painfully holding onto the back of his pants, where he was starting to leak blood onto his pants. Did he just get shot in the ass? "Son of a bitch!" shouted Dean who turned back to Bela. Oddly enough, she seemed more stunned then he was.

"Back off," Bela warned him but seemed unnerved.

"The hell is wrong with you?!" snapped Dean.

"It was an accident. I was firing a warning shot and then it…ricocheted," Bela explained. For some reason, Dean actually believed her. The rabbit's foot curse was starting to get worse for Sam.

"Sammy you alright?" Dean called out.

"Can we burn that damn thing before something else happens to me?" snapped Sam. Before anybody could react, Dean tossed the rabbit's foot into the fire.

"Dammit!" shouted Bela. She was furious but lowered her weapon.

"See. I told you're not a killer," smiled Dean. Bela glared daggers at him then suddenly raised her gun, taking Dean by the surprise. "Whoa wait a minute," he protested. She fired two rounds but strangely they both missed him. Someone screamed behind Dean and for a split second he was afraid Bela had shot Sam intentionally this time. Except whoever it was didn't sound like his younger brother. Dean turned to see Gordon's goons taking cover with guns drawn. One of them was hit in the shoulder. "Sammy get down!" shouted Dean.

The Winchesters quickly dove for cover while Bela continued emptying her clip at the two thugs. Gordon's men fired back but quickly retreated with one of them helping the other make a break for the tree line. When they were finally gone, Dean got back to his feet along with Sam. "How the hell did they find us?" Sam asked.

"Considering I was lucky before all of this, probably you in some way jinx," Dean answered. Sam threw him a look, still clenching his right hip. Dean turned his attention back to Bela who seemed rather furious. "Thanks," he told her.

"Thanks? I'm out one and a half million and on the bad side of a very powerful, very psychotic buyer," fumed Bela.

"If it's any consolation I'm not angry at you. For saving us from those two I'll even overlook you shooting Sammy in the ass," smiled Dean. Sam however didn't seem so forgiving.

"A real consolation would be letting me take one of those boxes your father had lying around," pointed out Bela. Damn this woman doesn't quit does she?

"I don't think so. We found you once so if you try to take any of those we'll find you again. It's actually for your own good. Opening anyone of those might kill you," explained Dean.

Strangely enough, Bela didn't seem that pissed. She calmly strolled over to Dean's jacket. "You owe me one boys," she told them before picking up the jacket and tossing to Dean who caught it.

"Looking forward to paying you back," Dean called out as she walked off. He put on his jacket and turned around to a flabbergasted Sam.

"Did you just flirt with the woman who shot me?" he snapped.

"Relax Sam she didn't mean it. And what are you complaining about? You might be need surgery but I'm going to need therapy after digging that bullet out of your bare naked ass," retorted Dean.

Sam rolled his eyes and the two made their way back to the Impala. They were halfway through the cemetery when Dean asked, "You good?"

"I'll live," grumbled Sam, limping along.

"I guess we're back to normal now huh? No good luck. No bad luck. Oh speaking of which…"Dean spoke then remembered the scratch tickets. He couldn't wait to cash them in but realized they weren't in his right pocket where he left them. He checked his other pockets but they weren't in any of them. A Silver Mercedes CLK drove by a nearby road, honking as it sped off. Dean recognized that car from outside Bela's apartment building. Suddenly it all made sense. "SON OF A BITCH!"

(So some things changed while others stayed the same. I know most people want me to get to the angels but that would make this fic too much like To Hell and Back and I want to do something different. What I have for Red Sky at Morning is mostly the same as the episode but I felt I have to cover it. Please review.)


	2. Red Sky at Morning

(Okay I have to apologize for making this chapter so long. I got a little too carried away with it and it ended up a lot bigger than it should have been. But I felt I had to cover it so here it is.)

**Sea Pines, Massachusetts **

Bela was furious as she stormed out of Gert's mansion. The old bat was even dumber than the dozens of cats she had in her home but Bela had always enjoyed her visits before all of this. Gert was an easy score and always willing to pay for some charms or a séance or two. Only this time the Winchesters paid her a visit and ruined everything. Bela told Gert on the phone that her niece Sheila was at peace after a strange drowning. Then Bela charmed the old nut into purchasing an alchemy formula that was supposed to be a great aphrodisiac. It was actually just fruit punch but what the old bat didn't know wouldn't hurt her. But when Bela got there, Gert started talking about how two of Bela's associates had talked to her earlier and told her the case wasn't solved. Bela managed to lie her way through whatever questions were thrown her way but Gert didn't want to pay for the formula until whatever killed Sheila was stopped.

Strolling back to her car near the docks, Bela was contemplating how to get back at Sam and Dean for screwing up what should have been some easy money. Almost on cue, she noticed a familiar looking car parked next to a parking meter. A black 67 Chevy Impala. A million ideas ran through Bela's mind like smashing the windows, slashing the tires, dumping the car at the bottom of the harbor. But then realized that might be going a bit too far and besides the boys might be able to help fix this mess. If anyone can find and stop whatever's causing these deaths, it was the Winchesters. Of course that doesn't mean Bela couldn't have a little fun with them.

* * *

"Wow crap," sighed Dean once Sam finished explaining the number of sunken ships off the coast. 150 ships matching the ghost ship the drowning victim saw before her death. That meant hitting the library for historical documents which meant hours upon hours of research. And Dean was hoping for a quick and easy case this time. His pocket started ringing with the tune of Smoke on the Water. "Hello," he answered.

"Hello Dean," said a familiar feminine voice on the other end.

Dean couldn't help but sighed, "Bela. How'd you get this number?" That caught Sam's attention who leaned closer to listen in until Dean shoved him away.

"From Gert. You left her a card remember?" replied Bela.

"You're Alex," realized Dean.

"So you do have a brain," chuckled Bela.

"What do you want Bela? Calling to apologize for stealing my tickets?" Dean fumed.

"I don't apologize for anything darling. Actually I'll calling to cash in my favor," stated Bela.

"Favor?" frowned Dean.

"For saving you two from those gun wielding thugs back at the cemetery. You know there's a history of strange drownings every 37 years around here?" asked Bela.

"Yeah we know. We've been doing this for a living sweetheart," said Dean.

"Good then you're up to speed. I want you to solve the case," said Bela.

"Why would you even care about that and what's your angle with the old lady?" demanded Dean.

"There's no angle. There are a lot of lovely old women like Gert up and down the Eastern Seaboard. I sell them charms, perform séances so they can commune with their dead cats," explained Bela.

"And let me guess. It's all a con, none of it is real," scoffed Dean.

"The comfort I provide them is very real. If people are really that stupid to believe the snake oil I sell them is real, it's their own fault," Bela replied.

"How do you even sleep at night?" scorned Dean.

"On silk sheets rolling naked in money," retorted Bela. Dean was about to say something except the image of Bela rolled naked in a pile of Benjamin Franklins put his brain on hold. "Thanks for telling Gert the case wasn't solved by the way."

"It isn't," said Dean.

"She didn't know that. Now the old bag's stopped payment and demanding some real answers. So solve the case and get rid of this ghost so I can get my money," replied Bela.

"Oh sure sweetheart. Protecting your modest living is my highest priority," mocked Dean.

The two brothers reached the parking spot where they left the Impala except there was a big problem. Dean's baby was gone. "Where's my car?" Dean asked out loud.

"Did you feed the meter?" asked Sam.

"Yes I fed the meter. Did someone…" Dean snapped and then realized everything. "Where's my car you bitch!" he shouted into the phone.

"Calm down Dean. I just thought I should get to know the other woman in your life. We'll have a nice chat while the two of you check the local library for any info I might have missed on possible candidates for our ghost ship. It's only half an hour's walk from here and you need to burn off the carbs after eating that bacon cheeseburger earlier," chuckled Bela. Son of a bitch how long was she following them? Dean was about to reply when he saw the Impala coming up the road. Bela mockingly waved at them while passing by. "Ciao," she called out before hanging up.

The two brothers stood there in shock and pissed off. "I'm gonna kill her," Dean grumbled.

"Just not in public," sighed Sam.

* * *

A day passed and another suspicious death happened in town. Bela heard on her police scanner that a man named Mike Warren drowned in his own bathtub, which sounded exactly like this dried drowning spirit's MO. So Bela drove to the crime scene where the police were transporting away the body with minimal attention from any news outlets. Then again a drowning isn't exactly considered a breaking story. Wearing a fake press ID, Bela managed to charm one of the officers into giving her some information on the victim and his surviving older brother Peter Warren. Peter was stunned and outraged that the police said it was an accidental drowning in a bathtub but what else where they supposed to think? That an undead mass murderer was responsible?

Bela managed to get a personal interview with Peter. It was easy enough, bat an eye lash here and there with a smile and he practically came running over to her despite whatever trauma he was feeling. The man mostly let him rant on about how the police were wrong but it wasn't until he mentioned seeing a ghost ship earlier in the day that she finally was getting some useful information. He described it as an old Yankee Clipper smuggling vessel. Rakish topsail, barkentine rigging, and angel figurehead on the bow. Apparently he saw the ship too which meant he was probably next on the spirit's hit list. Tough break but Bela didn't really give a damn.

"I'm so sorry for your loss Mr. Warren," Bela said her false sympathy without her normal accent. "Now is there anything else you can tell me about the ship your brother saw?"

"Ma'am," said a familiar voice behind. Bela turned to Dean and Sam holding up fake State Trooper badges. They certainly took their time getting here. Yesterday Bela enjoyed taking Dean's Impala for a little joyride and then for kicks left it in the parking lot of the local police station. She texted the boys a picture of it and let them figure out its location. Clearly they did and they were still quite angry.

"I think this man's been through quite enough. You should go," said Dean.

"But I just have a few more questions," Bela protested but civilly.

"No you don't," glared Sam. No matter, Bela had enough to ID the ship but she made a mental note to get back at the boys for this.

"Thank you for your time," Bela smiled at Peter then gave a death glare at the Winchesters. She turned and walked off.

"Sorry you had to deal with that. They're like roaches," Dean spoke to Peter but made sure he was loud enough to be heard by Bela. She swore she should have just dumped the Impala into the Harbor instead of letting him have it back. Still she couldn't just let Dean's comment slide so Bela made her way over to two patrol officers who were maintaining security for the crime scene.

"Excuse me officers," she greeted the two uniforms and immediately pointed out Sam and Dean. "I'm not sure those men over there are detectives. I saw them a couple nights ago at a bar where they told me how they take mementos from crime scenes and sell them to a bunch of slasher psycho fans online. Pretty sure they were drunk at the time." The officers glanced at the brothers who quickly made themselves scare.

* * *

Bela later caught up to the Winchesters a few blocks over from the crime scene, loading salt rounds into shotguns. Why on Earth they were still here she didn't know but Bela was curious enough to find out. "I see you got your car back," she commented as she walked up to them. Neither brother even looked at her. They just kept loading shells into their weapons.

"You really wanna come near me when I've got a loaded gun in my hands?" Dean growled.

"Now now mind your blood pressure. You have quite the arsenal in your trunk Dean. Are you compensating for something?" Bela laughed as she noticed the dozens of guns, knives, wooden stakes, and various other weapons utilized by a hunter. Dean shot a death look at her. And Bela thought he had a sense of humor. Guess it evaporates when it comes to his manhood. "Why are you even still here? You have enough to ID the ship."

"That guy back there saw the ship," explained Sam. The boys closed the trunk and turned to face her.

"Yeah and?" shrugged Bela. She knew what that meant but she was curious to see if the boys knew it.

"And he's going to die so we have to save him," Sam replied. How adorable. He reminded Bela of the dog you'd see on the news that would race over to the neighbor's house to get his owners some help. It was pointless to save the man at this point but it was still cute nonetheless.

"How sweet," chuckled an amused Bela. The boys didn't share her sense of humor.

Dean glared daggers at her, "You think this is funny?"

"He's cannon fodder sweetheart. He can't be saved in time and you know it," Bela answered. And she thought the Winchesters couldn't be more pissed at her but she was wrong judging from their faces.

"Yeah well we have souls so we're gonna try," stated Dean as he headed around the left side of the Impala.

The two of them were about to leave but Bela just couldn't let that either of them have the last word. "Well I'm actually going to find the ship and put an end to this. But you have fun," she said. Dean was halfway into his car when he stopped and got back out. Something she said must have hit a nerve.

"How'd you get like this Bela? Did Daddy not give you give you enough hugs?" Dean asked as he walked up to her.

Bela tried her best not to flinch. Now Dean was the one hitting a nerve, even though he didn't know it. Bela could have told him the truth right there about her Father. The scorn on Dean's face would have disappeared completely. God knows how quickly he would apologize and perhaps even see Bela in a new light. But of course she didn't say any of that. What would be the point? Making an emotional connection with someone when you only had a few more months to live? You'd only end up hurting them. Not that Bela cared one way or another about anyone but she didn't want to risk starting to care. That would be more painful than having no one care about her at all.

"I don't know. Your daddy hug you at all?" shot back Bela. "Don't you dare look down your nose at me. You're no better than I am."

"We help people," replied Dean.

"Only if they're being hunted by some monster or spirit. If someone doesn't have something for you kill, you don't care about them. You do this for your own obsessive need for vengeance," scoffed Bela. Another lesson she learned a long time ago.

"Don't you dare presume to know me," growled Dean.

"Tell me Dean. After you put a silver bullet into a werewolf's heart and it reverts back to being human before it dies. Do you feel more like a hunter or a serial killer?" challenged Bela. The two of them stared at each for only a few seconds but it felt like longer than that. Bela felt somewhat bad taking out her frustrations from dealing with other hunters onto Dean but that ship had sailed.

"Bela why don't you just leave? We've got work to do," Sam finally broke the silence.

"Yeah you're 0 for 2. Bang up job so far," Bela gave one last taunt before leaving.

* * *

Bela spent the rest of the day going over every research material she could find in the library and online. It took almost the entire day and a large migraine but she finally managed to ID the ship and figured what who the ghost was. As soon as she found it about the Hand of Glory, Bela immediately called up Luke and told him she had something to make up for the rabbit's foot. It took some convincing but once he managed to verify it existed, he offered her 300 grand. Bela accepted as the man was already pissed off and she wanted to smooth things over before he sends men with guns after her.

Unfortunately the Hand was safely locked away in the Sea Pines Maritime Museum and what little she could find out, it had quite an effective alarm system when it was closed. Which meant she needed to get in there during the day but that would mean traffic and the last thing Bela wanted was to get busted by some pedestrian walking by. As luck would have it, there was a ball tonight for the local millionaires. Bela could get herself invited with a help from Gert but there was bound to be heavy security there so that meant she might need additional help. And the only possible help she could find on such short notice drive in an Impala. But as she thought more about it, a plan began to form into her mind. Bela went to bed with a large smile on her face.

"_Abby," voices called out to her in the darkness. "Abby," echoed all around her but she couldn't see a thing. Fear began to tighten in her throat as the voices grew louder, shouting her name. "Abby. You'll like it down here with us. See you soon," they taunted. Dogs howled in the distance, chilling Bela's blood. She could hear them getting closer, growling and barking. She ran but where? She couldn't a thing. Then Bela was stopped dead when she ran into something or rather someone. Instantly a hand grasped around her throat, lifting Bela off her feet and nearly choking the life out of her._

"_I'll be seeing you real soon sweetheart," said a voice Bela wished she never heard again. She couldn't see his face but she knew her father's voice when she heard it. A pair of golden eyes shined onto her face. "Real soon," he laughed. And at that moment, the dogs leaped onto her and sank their teeth into her back._

Bela shot up on her hotel bed, screaming. It took her a minute to catch her breath and realize it was all a dream. Her hands were shaking, her face was covered in sweat. She collapsed back down in tears. Eight months to the day. That's all the time Bela had left before the hellhounds would come howling. It didn't matter what you did or even if you manage to corner yourself somewhere the hounds couldn't get you, you were still screwed. No matter how long you lasted, eventually you would die and there's only one direction for your soul to go after that.

Bela spent years trying to find a way out of her deal. She was young, desperate, and didn't understand the consequences. And by the time she did it was far too late. She was free from her father but now she a new kind of hell was waiting for her. A literal one. Bela purchased any material she could find when it came to crossroad demons but they all produced nothing useful. Then she tried finding actual ways to become immortal. Hell couldn't get her soul is she couldn't die but nothing worked. She was starting to believe there was no such thing as immortality unless you turn into a monster of some kind and that wouldn't do her much good. The hellhounds would still be able to kill her and even if she did manage to evade or fight them off, she'd have to deal with hunters as well. It was all hopeless. Bela was going to die and spend the rest of eternity in pain and torment. She curled up and cried herself back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Bela scouted out the local motels but couldn't find the Winchesters in any of them. She was starting to think that maybe they actually solved the case and had moved on. That was until she noticed a familiar looking Impala parked in front of a house she was passing by. Did they get a friend to loan them a house to use until they solve the case? Of course if they were still here that probably meant it wasn't solved yet. Bela parked her car next to the Impala and got out.

She didn't really need to smooth things over with the boys first as there's no doubt in Bela's mind that Sam and Dean wouldn't hesitate once they hear about the Hand of Glory. They'll think its remains they can burn and they'll suffer whatever Bela puts them through to get it. She knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long before a peephole opened. Someone heavily sighed inside and unlocked the door. It opened to reveal Dean who was about as happy to see her as he was yesterday.

Bela stepped inside and realized the inside was a complete dump. Now it was Sam's turn to heavily sigh when he saw her. All the furniture, tables, and chairs were old and torn, junk was scattered all over the floor, and the walls and ceilings looked like they needed a paint job ten years ago. "Dear god are you actually squatting? Charming," she muttered. Neither brother said a word to her so Bela decided to break the ice.

"So. How'd things go last night with Peter?" she asked. Once again neither brother answered her but judging from Sam's face it didn't go so well. "That well huh?"

"If you say I told you so, I swear to God I'll start swinging," grumbled Dean.

"Look I think the three of us should have a heart-to-heart," Bela decided to get to business.

"That's assuming you have a heart," replied Dean. Witty as usual.

"Dean please. I'm sorry about what I said before, okay? I come bearings gifts," stated Bela.

"Such as?" frowned Sam.

"I've ID'd the ship," smiled Bela. That caught their interest. She gave them every information she had on the ship and the identity of the ghost. Turns out the spirit they fought last night was missing a right hand which matched historical documents that his hand was cut off to make a Hand of Glory.

"A Hand of Glory? I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week," joked Dean. Bela rolled her eyes in annoyance. The eldest Winchester was about as mature a horny twelve year old.

"The right hand of a hanged man is a serious occult object," explained Sam.

"So they say," shrugged Bela. Of course that also made it worth a lot of money to the right people but she left that little detail out.

"And officially counts as remains," realized Dean.

"But still none of this explains why the ghost is choosing these victims," said Sam. These boys were thinking too much into all of this. They identified the remains which means they don't need to figure the spirit's motives.

"I'll tell you why. Who cares? Find the hand, burn it, and stop the bloody thing," replied Bela.

"I don't get it. Why are you telling us all this?" demanded Dean.

"Because I know exactly where the hand is. At the Sea Pines Museum as a macabre bit of maritime history. But I need help," answered Bela.

"What kind of help?" asked Sam. Bela smiled, he was going to regret asking that question.

* * *

"What is taking so long? Sam's already halfway there," Bela called up to Dean who getting changed upstairs. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Sam walking hand in hand with Gert. "With his date," she added.

"So not okay with this," Dean called down to her. She wasn't sure whether he was angrier about being Bela's date or wearing a tuxedo.

"What are you a woman? Come down already," demanded Bela, losing her patience. Dean slowly came down the stairs and at first Bela was half tempted to bust up laughing. That was until she actually saw Dean in the tuxedo and her jaw dropped. He looked good…correction he looked really good. Bela breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Dean was completely oblivious to her reaction. "Alright get it out. I look ridiculous," he grumbled.

Did he even look in a mirror after he changed because ridiculous was the last thing that came to Bela's mind. "Not exactly the word I'd use," she replied.

"What?" frowned Dean.

"You know when this is over, we should really have angry sex," smirked Bela. Dean stood there with a look on his face that could only be described as a deer in the headlights. He was completely speechless and Bela thought he was starting to blush. He folded his arms uncomfortably.

"Don't objectivity me," Dean finally blurted out. Bela smiled, it was a little too late for that. "Come on let's go," he grumbled. He headed towards the front door and Bela could have sworn she saw a slight smirk on his face when he thought she wasn't looking.

* * *

Dean could tell the party was catered to the high and mighty just by seeing the cars the other guests brought. Bela had insisted that they come via her Mercedes as no one rich in this town would be caught dead driving an Impala. That irked Dean but he agreed with her. He managed to retort by saying he should be the one driving her car. An irked Bela warned him one scratch on it and that drowning spirit would be the least of his problems.

They were greeted by a valet once they pulled up to the museum. Dean played the gentleman part well enough opening the passenger door for Bela and helping out. "And I thought chivalry was dead," she commented. Dean wanted to tell her where she could stick her chivalry but kept his mouth shut as the two entered the museum. Inside virtually all the guests were wearing tuxedos and dresses that would take Dean working a normal job at least a year to afford. Sometimes the high life does have its perks.

"Are you chewing gum?" asked Bela. Dean hadn't even realized he still had it in his mouth. "Try to behave like you lived this life before yeah?" The way Bela lectured him was like talking to a spoiled child. Well if she wants to talk to him like a child then he'll act like a child. Dean looked around to make sure no was looking before pulling out his gum and sticking it to the side of a drink fountain. He was quite pleased by the resulting eye roll from Bela and gave her a thumbs up. She took his arm and the two walked side by side into the reception hall. Security was tight. Everywhere you looked someone in a uniform was standing guard somewhere.

Sam and Gert were nowhere to be found so the two of them headed over the bar and got themselves a drink to blend in. "Ah isn't that cute," laughed Dean as they watched Sasquatch and his cougar girlfriend walking into the reception hall side by side. Gert looks like she was in love while Sam looked like he wanted to spontaneously combust into flames. He finally managed to pull himself free from his "date" and made his way over to Dean and Bela.

"Just how long do you expect me to entertain my date?" Sam grumbled. Honestly this had to be the funniest thing Dean had ever seen Sam do to finishing a case. He wondered if Dad was still around how he'd feel about all of this. This might even make the old man laugh.

"As long as it takes," smirked Bela. Sam glared at her but that only seemed to widen her smile.

"Look security's all over this place. This is an uncrashable party without Gert's invitation," Dean explained while trying to keep a straight face.

"We can crash anything," pointed out Sam.

Dean couldn't suppress a smile any longer. "Yeah I know but this is easier and a lot more entertaining," he laughed.

"You know there are limits to what I'll right?" sighed Sam.

"Ah he's playing hard to get. That's cute," Dean told Bela. The two of them seemed to have forgotten their earlier bickering by enjoying Sam's misery. "I want all the details in the morning," he whispered to Sam.

"Remember to wear protection," Bela quipped as Dean handed her a drink and the two walked off. They strolled through the area, checking on the security detail for the party and the best way to get to the second floor where the prize was. They quickly assessed that the guards were pros and sneaking by them wasn't really an option. "What do you suggest?" Bela asked.

"I'm thinking," admitted Dean.

"As adorable as you are in that tuxedo, I don't want to be here all night so why don't you leave the thinking to me," Bela spoke.

Dean glared at her. "If you've got any bright ideas I'm all ears." Bela didn't say a word. She just smiled and collapsed into Dean, as if she fainted. He barely was able to react in time to catch her and slowly lower her to the floor. "Honey," Dean said feigning concern. He noticed a guard watching them nearby. "Excuse me sir. My wife is a lightweight when it comes to the champagne. Is there someplace I can lay her down still she can get her sea legs back?"

* * *

Bela was practically dumped onto a sofa by Dean. She was sure to give him hell for that later but right now she just played dead. "You think she's a pain in the ass now? Trying living with her," Dean laughed to the guard who escorted them here. Living with Dean Winchester? That was a frightening thought. She opened her eyes once she heard the door closed and found Dean managed to talk the guard away. Bela sat up with a victorious smirk on her face as Dean turned to face her. "Maybe next time give me a little heads up with your plan," he growled.

Dean tossed Bela her purse which she caught. "I didn't want you thinking. You're not very good at it," she chuckled. Dean seemed like he was trying to think of a comeback but didn't say a word. That only made Bela laugh louder. "Oh look at you. Searching for a witty rejoinder?"

"Screw you," uttered Dean.

"Very Oscar Wilde," laughed Bela. Dean rolled his eyes and headed towards the door. "Remember Room 235. It's in a glass case wired for alarm. I trust that won't be a problem?" smiled Bela. Dean mockingly mumbled the same words she did and left. It amazed Bela to think that he was considered to a stud by most people. Get him close to some dumb college girl and sure he'll talk his way into their pants. But get him close to a woman with half a brain cell and Dean flounders like a fish out of water. Still what he lacks in brains he makes up for in stubbornness, loyalty, and he looks really good in a tuxedo. Maybe Bela shouldn't have made that angry sex line a joke.

After getting rid of a guard who came to check up on her, Dean returned shortly with the Hand of Glory. "May I?" Bela asked, wanting to get her hands on it. That was three hundred grand just inches away.

"No," Dean said firmly.

"It might be more inconspicuous in my purse," added Bela.

Dean scoffed, "Nice try but I don't need your kind of help sweetheart."

_If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even know about the Hand in the first place or even get inside the museum_ thought Bela. Well it didn't matter anyways, Dean had the hand and that was her plan all along. He wrapped the rotting severed limb into a napkin and tucked it away in his tuxedo. Bela made a note of that as the two of them head into the hallway and back down to the first floor. The guests were dancing in the reception hall and was becoming a little crowded which presented the perfect opportunity for Bela. After feigning that someone bumped into her from behind, she bumped into Dean quickly switching out the hand in his tuxedo pocket for a small glass bottle with a plastic ship inside.

"Watch it," grumbled Dean.

"Figured you'd want to get closer to me," chuckled Bela.

"Only in your dreams," he retorted.

They found a very drunk and barely able to stand Gert dancing with Sam who looked like he wished lightning would strike him dead. "Well having a nice time?" Bela asked.

"He's delightful. He wants me," giggled Gert.

Sensing an opportunity to get away from the Winchesters, Bela took Gert's arm and whispered at the boys, "I'm going to get Gert into a cold shower."

"Great idea," said Sam, all too happy to get rid of the old woman.

"See you at the cemetery," Bela called out to Dean and Sam before departing with Gert. Finally she could let loose a smile she had been holding back ever since she snagged the Hand from Dean. He was going to be pissed when he looked in his pocket.

* * *

Bela just returned to her Mercedes after her meeting with Luke three hundred thousand dollars richer. She neglected to mention to him that a killer spirit was attached to it but that wasn't really her problem. If anything happens to the old bastard, there were plenty of other rich men willing to pay for occult objects. Bela dropped the bag full of green into her passenger seat and was about to drive off when her phone rang. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the Caller ID.

"Hi Dean," Bela answered cheerfully.

"Where is it Bela?!" shouted the eldest Winchester.

"Do you really need to ask?" replied Bela.

Clearly he knew the answer. "You realize that ghost is going to keep on killing people wherever that hand goes? Did you mention that little fact to your buyer?" he snapped.

"Explaining fine print to someone was never one of my strengths," shrugged Bela.

"I'm sure you get this all the time but you are a nothing but an immoral conniving bitch," growled Dean before he hung up.

Bela laughed as she dropped her cell phone back into her purse. She was about to pull out a large wad of cash but before she could, Bela noticed something out in the nearby harbor. It was transparent and difficult to make out as first but slowly it became more visible. Bela instantly recognized it, the ghost ship. "Oh no," she whispered.

* * *

Dean looked at the little glass ship jar Bela left in place of the hand and just kept repeating the same word over and over again in his mind. Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch. Why the hell was he so surprised? She was a con artist thief and yet he didn't see it coming. Did he expect her to try something? Of course but not something like this. Just maybe he was hoping for her to step up and do the right thing like back at the graveyard when she accidently shot Sam. She could have killed him but didn't. Hell she saved both their lives when Gordon's trained monkeys showed up.

"You know you're right. I'm not gonna kill her. I think slow torture's the way to go," grumbled Dean.

Sam was taking all of this remarkably well. "Dean you gotta relax," he said.

"Relax?! I can't believe she got another one over on us," snapped Dean.

"On you," pointed out Sam. Dean gave him a death glare. "Hey I'm not the one who was flirting with her after she shot me back in Buffalo remember?"

"Oh come on Sam it was an accident…oh my god I'm actually defending her. What the hell is wrong with me?" sighed Dean.

Sam didn't get a chance to respond before there was a knock on the front door. "Hello? Could you open up?" shouted the last person Dean expected. Why the hell was Bela coming back here and why did she sound frantic? God only knows why but they let her in and she quickly explained that she sold the hand and basically used them for cover to snatch it from the museum.

While Dean was making various obscene gestures behind Bela's back, Sam asked, "You sold it to a buyer. Why not go buy it back?"

"It's halfway across the ocean. I can't get it back in time," Bela shook her head.

"In time for what?" demanded Dean.

Bela took a breath, bracing herself. "I saw the ship," she said.

"You what?" Dean tried to mask his shock but then realized who he was dealing with. Of course she saw the ship. "I knew you were an immoral conniving bitch but just when my opinion of you couldn't get any lower."

Bela turned and glared at him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. Sam gave her the quick explanation how the ghost was hanged by his own brother and every one of his victims all spilled the blood of someone in their own family.

Bela's face turned pale. "Oh my god," she whispered.

Dean just couldn't help but twist the knife. "So who was it Bela? Was it Daddy? Your little sis maybe?"

Bela turned to him and whispered, "It's none of your business."

Fine if it wasn't any of his business then maybe it was time to leave. "Well have a nice life. Whatever's left of it," Dean told her patting her on the back. Sam even seemed surprised by that as Dean headed over to grab his coat. "Sam let's go."

"You can't just leave me here," protested Bela.

"Watch us," Dean quipped.

"Please," begged Bela. "I need your help."

"Help?! Have you even asked yourself why we should risk our lives to save someone who doesn't care about anyone else? The hand is gone and wherever it's going, it's going to kill more people. Their blood will be on your hands and you don't give a damn. And better yet you'll gladly do something like this again so why should I care?" shouted Dean. He kicked himself for saying why he specifically should care rather than why both Sam and he should care.

"Because I saved your lives before all of this. I could have intentionally shot Sam back in that cemetery to force you to hand over the rabbit's foot but I didn't," pleaded Bela.

"What did you do Bela? Why's the ghost after you?" asked Sam.

"You wouldn't understand. No one did," snapped Bela. She took a deep breath obviously realizing shouting wasn't going to get anyone to help her. "It doesn't matter right now. Just please help me," she whispered

A few minutes later, Bela was sitting on a chair in the middle of a salt circle. "Really? This is the best you can come up with?" she grumbled. It was a temporary solution but at least the ghost couldn't get to her for the moment.

"Just shut up until we figure out what to do. You didn't exactly leave us a lot of options considering you sold the only thing that can save your life," grumbled Dean. How does she do it? After everything this bitch has done, somehow Dean is now risking his life to save her's.

"Actually Dean there might be another way," said Sam.

* * *

"This is a bad plan," commented Bela as Sam finished setting up for séance ritual. They were all standing in the middle of a graveyard, specifically the one were the ghost's brother was buried. Dean held a shotgun filled with rock salt. It wasn't going to stop the spirit but it could at least slow him down once he showed up.

"If you've got any bright idea I'm all ears. But I don't think pretending to faint is going to work this time," quipped Dean. She threw him a look as thunder boomed overhead.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Bela trembled.

"Almost definitely not," sighed Dean. It was a long shot at best but it was the only one they've got. Bela had to be out in the open and exposed to draw the ghost out and Sam needed to perform the ritual right to draw the brother's spirit. There had to be some bad blood between them and there have been instances of ghosts destroying each other. Rain started down pouring, drenching all three of them instantly. The spirit never caused a thunderstorm before killing his other victims but Dean had a funny feeling he was close.

"Sammy. Better start reading," called out Dean. Sam started chanting in Latin, reading from Dad's journal. Bela looked absolutely mortified, right on the verge of panic. "Stay close!" Dean shouted over the rain. Bela gasped. "Behind you!" she screamed. Dean spun around, raising his shotgun but the ghost was on him before he could do anything. Before he knew what had happened he was flying through the air and crashed into a headstone, setting off his shotgun. Groaning, Dean held his side as he rolled over to see the ghost touching Bela's face.

Bela gasped and hacked up water out of her mouth. Dean's instincts told him to grab the shotgun he dropped and reload but panicked upon seeing Bela drop to her knees gasping for air. He quickly rushed over to help her, wrapping his arms around her chest and attempting the Heimlich maneuver. But Bela continued to vomit more water, unable to breathe. "Sammy read faster!" Dean shouted to his brother. He wanted to do something to help but it was pointless. He was completely helpless to do anything. Dean tried again desperately to pull on Bela's chest but it accomplished nothing.

Then it stopped raining. Bela hacked water onto the ground and gasped, finally taking air back into her lungs. The ghost, sensing something and losing interest in Bela, turned around and saw the spirit of his older brother. "You hanged me. Your own brother," the ghost growled. The older brother begged for forgiveness but it fell on deaf ears as the younger brother lunged at him. Their forms collided and were extinguished.

Bela trembled as she wrapped her arms around Dean and started to cry as she rested her head against his chest. Dean never thought Bela was capable of being like this. She was always so confident and one step ahead that seeing her vulnerable like this was almost unnerving. "It's over," he whispered to her.

* * *

The next morning, Dean and Sam were packing up the last of their things and getting ready to move on. Bela ditched them almost immediately after they saved her life. Dean suspected she was more embarrassed for looking so vulnerable then she was grateful. At least this case wasn't a complete bust. The ghost was gone for good and they actually manage to save someone, even if it was Bela. Still she could have at least given them a simple thank you.

The front door to their temporary residence suddenly opened and low and behold, Bela Talbot stepped inside. Dean wasn't happy to see her and neither apparently was Sam. "You boys should learn to lock your doors. Anyone could just barge right in," she commented.

"Anybody just did," sighed Sam.

"Oh Sam. Don't tell me you're still holding a grudge over shooting you," smirked Bela in that sweet 'I don't care what you think about me' tone. Sam glared at her then went back to packing his things. Bela turned her attention to Dean. "You're brother's quite the drama queen."

"Did you come to say thank you? If so just say it and leave," grumbled Dean.

"I've come to settle affairs," stated Bela. She pulled a large stack from her purse and set on a table. "That's fifty grand. All the money you would have gotten from those lottery tickets plus interest." Dean and Sam stared at her in disbelief. "I don't like being in other people's debt," Bela shrugged.

Dean grabbed a stack of the money and flipped his way through it to confirm the money was genuine. "Let me get this straight. Ponying up fifty grand is easier than saying a simple thank you?" he asked then shook his head. "You are so damaged," he chuckled.

Bela smiled, "Takes one to know one." Dean smiled back at her, not denying it. "Goodbye lads." And with that said, Bela headed towards the front door and left. Dean wasn't sure what he found more shocking. That Bela gave them fifty grand or the fact that she gave them any money at all. She didn't even have to show up. She simply could have called them to say thanks. Instead she drops a wad of cash and then just leaves. Bela is certainly different that was for sure.

"She's got style. You've gotta give her that," commented Sam as he started flipping through the money.

"Yeah she does," agreed Dean.

(The next chapter Bad Blood will actually be different from the episode of the same name. Bela will actually be involved instead of what the Supernatural writer's did which they clearly didn't know what to do with her and just put her in for no reason. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)


	3. Bad Blood

(I somewhat feel that Creedy and Kubrick were somewhat out of character in this chapter but in my defense the two of them are pissed off from being humiliated by the Winchesters and shot by Bela. But then again it made no sense in the normal episode where Creedy isn't around at all and why Bela just betrayed the boys without even warning them of Gordon. She could have at least called them up after her deal but I suppose then the episode wouldn't have been very exciting.)

**Shelton, Connecticut **

Bela's luck seemed to be on a roll as of late. First she sold the Hand of Glory and survived thanks to the Winchesters and now a few days later, what started as a wild goose chase finally paid off. An old contact of her's found some sort of grimoire that dealt with possession and tons of other demonic lore. With less than a year left before he deal comes due, Bela had been scrounging up whatever information she could buy on demons and how to get out of a deal with one. This grimoire supposedly had a ton of information on Crossroad Demons and that really perked her interest.

Her contact, Mark, seemed on edge when they met underneath an old wooden bridge at night. Bela's first thought was this was a set up but after examining the book and confirming it looked genuine, Mark took her money and left without incident. So book in hand, Bela headed back to her car thinking everything was fine. Until she could see a figure coming up behind her. Bela was about to draw a pistol concealed inside a pocket in her jacket when she noticed two more men coming up from around her car and aiming their own pistols at her.

"Bollocks," Bela cursed as she raised her hands. So Mark set her up after all. She should have followed her instincts but she was too desperate to get her hands on the book. One of the men, dark skinned and bald, quickly patted her down and pulled out the gun in her jacket and the one hidden on her ankle. He also retrieved two knifes Bela kept hidden up her sleeves. "It's rude to sneak up on people," Bela quipped as she put on a calm demeanor.

"Bela Talbot?" the man who searched her asked.

Bela turned, hands still raised. "You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know you or your friends," she stated.

"Gordon Walker," the man answered. "My friends here are Kubrick and Creedy. You might remember him a few weeks back in Buffalo," he pointed them out.

"You shot me bitch," snapped Creedy. Bollocks she did remember them. This just keeps getting worse and worse. Not only was Bela dealing with a psychotic hunter who was supposed to be in jail but he was out and working with two people she really pissed off.

"Because I thought you were going to shoot me," Bela snapped back at him.

"That's enough," Gordon spoke. He didn't yell but just his voice alone caused everyone to shut up. There was something was terrifying about that. "Believe it or not we're not actually here to hurt you. We just want to know where the Winchesters boys are."

"What makes you think I know?" frowned Bela.

"We saw a newspaper picture of you and Dean at the Sea Pines Museum the night it was robbed," answered Kubrick. Damn it, someone took a picture of her and she didn't even know it. Bela got careless during that job. Maybe if she spent more time minding her surroundings and not Dean's tuxedo, she wouldn't be in this mess.

"Alright I was with them," admitted Bela. "But I dumped them soon afterwards to sell the artifact we took. I don't know where they are now."

Kubrick glared at her. "You're lying."

"I do that quite often darling but this is the rare exception," retorted Bela.

"Try again," Gordon told her as he aimed a pistol at her. Bela had no doubt he wasn't going to kill her. You can't get information from a corpse. Well Bela could but she doubted these hunters could. But that didn't mean they wouldn't torture her to get what they wanted so it was best not to antagonize him.

"Calm down. What's so pressing about finding the boys anyway?" asked Bela.

"Sam Winchester's the Antichrist," Gordon responded.

Bela had to bite her tongue to not burst into laughter. Really? Sam Winchester. From what she heard about him, he couldn't step on a grasshopper without crying. "Right and Dean Winchester is the Easter Bunny," she said trying to keep a straight face.

"It's the truth," said Kubrick.

"Are you all off your meds?" Bela asked. This whole situation was becoming more ridiculous by the moment.

Gordon wasn't amused. "The world hangs in the balance so you go ahead and be a smart-ass. But if you don't tell me where they are I shoot," he threatened.

Bela needed to think of a way out of this. It wasn't like she had any loyalty to the Winchesters but they saved her once and she might need their help in the future so she wasn't about to get them killed. But she wasn't going to die for them either so for the moment she stalled. "Boys we don't know each other very well so let me tell you a little something about me. I don't respond well to threats but if you make me an offer and I think you'll find me highly cooperative," she said.

"Okay then," Gordon glared at her. "How about you tell me where they are or I kill you now?" Did he really expect her to fall for that?

"Kill me. Good luck finding Sam and Dean," Bela challenged him. She knew the moment of frustration shown on his face, she'd won. Gordon exchanged glances with his two friends and Bela knew she was safe at least for the moment.

"I can wrangle up three grand," Gordon finally spoke.

"Gordon!" protested Creedy.

"No he's right Creedy," said Kubrick.

Bela let the two of them argue for a minute while she considered her options. Three grand was virtually insulting to someone like her but if she refused, things might get a lot worse. Then she noticed a bag on Gordon's belt and a plan formed in her mind. This might actually be worth going enduring this mess. "Give me the mojo bag and we'll call it even," Bela said quickly. A hex bag like that might be worth quite a lot to the right buyer.

"Oh hell no. This thing's a century old. It's…" Gordon started to protest.

"Priceless. I know." Bela finished his own sentence. "Now how badly do you want the Winchesters?"

"C'mon Gordon. You can't possibly agree to this," Creedy groaned. Kubrick said nothing but he was clearly not happy over this. Seeing no other choice, Gordon pulled the bag off his belt and tossed at Bela. She caught her prize and smiled as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Put it on speaker," Gordon ordered.

Bela couldn't believe what she was about to do but she was going to give up the Winchesters while warning them. Anyone else, she would have simply sold them out but Bela might need the boys in the future. They were after all the only people who'd risk their own lives to save her. She dialed Dean's number and waited three rings before she got an answer, putting it on speaker. "Hello?" grunted Dean on the other end.

"Hello Dean. Where are you?" Bela asked as cheerfully as she possibly could.

"Bela. What the hell do you want?" Dean sighed.

"Remember that offer you gave me a few days ago about showing me a good time?" Bela asked. Of course she was the one who offered him something and that was angry sex but Dean was the only other person who knew otherwise. She just hoped he wasn't stupid enough to figure this all out. "I decided to take you up on your offer." Bela quickly blurted out before Dean could say a word.

There was silence on the other end. "What made you change your mind?" Dean asked. Thank god he wasn't a complete idiot.

"I'm in a good mood and I feel like celebrating. Where are you?" replied Bela.

"Just so happens I'm celebrating as well. Hittin the tables in Atlantic City," answered Dean.

Bela rolled her eyes, "Glad you're putting the money I gave you to good use."

"Yeah well you pop in and I'll put it to good use for you," chuckled Dean.

"That was the worst proposition line I've ever heard. You're lucky I'm in a good mood. Now where are you?" asked Bela.

"Lucky Slevin Motel off Route 30. Room 107," Dean informed her and judging from the look of Gordon and his goons, they were buying Dean's acting. Good thing because he was completely terrible. Thank god he wasn't an actor.

"See you in a few hours," Bela told him before hanging up.

Instantly Kubrick had a gun in her face. "You warned him didn't you?" he accused her.

"And when exactly did I do that?" Bela challenged him.

"I don't know but I'm sure you warned him somehow," Kubrick glared at her. Judging from Creedy's face, he was buying it but he wasn't the problem. All that mattered was if Gordon believed her.

"Tell you what Bela. If you're information leads us to the Winchesters, I'll let you walk away free and clear. You can even keep the hex bag. But if you're lying and you warned him then you'll just have to be bait. Either way you're coming with us," said Gordon.

"Bollocks," Bela cursed again.

* * *

**Atlantic City, New Jersey**

Dean hung up and noticed Sam staring at him flabbergasted in their motel room. "Are you serious?" he scoffed. Dean lied that he was hitting the tables at the casinos. That's how it all started until a damn vampire had to start killing people in the city. They tracked her down and shot her up with dead man's blood. But things got worse when they interrogated her and found all this happened after she was given some kind of unknown drug. Some vampire was finding random drug addicts and feeding them his own blood. Sam and Dean were about to go hunting when Bela called.

"Pack your things," Dean ordered him. He quickly started grabbing all of his belongings and throwing them into his gym bag.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Bela just warned us. Someone or something's coming. The way she was talking it was if someone had a gun to her head," said Dean. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew they couldn't sit in here waiting for the slaughter.

"Wait a minute. If someone's coming then we've got the upper hand. We set up a few cameras and wait until it shows up," suggested Sam.

"And then deal with it," agreed Dean.

"What about Bela? You think she's alright? " asked Sam. That had to be the first time he sounded genuinely concerned over her well-being.

"She can handle herself Sam. Besides there's nothing we can do for her even if she's in trouble until whatever this thing shows up," answered Dean.

* * *

"Are you sure Bela wasn't just screwing with you?" grumbled Sam in the Impala. Dean was seated next to him and they were both getting impatient. They set up a wireless camera in their hotel room, synced the video stream in Sam's laptop, and waited in the Impala for whatever was gunning for them. That was six hours ago and there wasn't as much as a ripple in the window blinds.

"Sammy I swear if you ask me that one more time I'm going to stick my foot so far up your…" Dean started to threaten his brother when they noticed movement on the doorknob in their hotel room. The door slowly opened, revealing the last person they were expecting. Gordon Walker, gun in hand, stepped inside. "Oh son of a bitch," groaned Dean.

"I guess he got out of prison," sighed Sam. They watched Gordon slowly sweep through their room then another man soon joined him. Sam recognized him as Kubrick, one of the guys Gordon sent after them around the time they got the rabbit's foot.

"Great. He brought one of his trained monkeys," commented Dean. He pulled out his pistol and popped out its clip, checking how much ammo he had. "Sam I hate to say this but…." He started to explain like this was a difficult thing to do.

"We kill him and his friends," Sam interrupted him as he pulled out his pistol and ammo checked. Dean threw him a look, not exactly what he was expecting to hear from his younger brother. "They're never going to stop trying to kill us until they are Dean so it's us or them."

"Well…yeah but I just thought you'd be against killing humans," admitted a confused Dean.

"Well it is today," said Sam.

"Okay then," shrugged Dean. They both got out of the car and headed around the alley towards their hotel room. Hopefully they'd catch Gordon and his goons unaware and put a few rounds into them before disposing of the bodies outside of town. Their room was on the ground floor with the only windows next to the door, meaning there was only one real way out. Gordon and Kubrick were boxed in a kill zone and didn't even know it.

The brothers split up and used parked cars for cover as they got closer. Neither of their targets emerged, probably scouring through the room for any clues. Hopefully that would keep them distracted long enough for Sam and Dean to finish them off. They were maybe fifty feet away from the door when Sam noticed a pedestrian moving through the parking lot. It wasn't until he saw a gun being raised that the man was Creedy, Gordon's other goon. "Dean look out!" Sam shouted.

Instantly shots rang out. Bullets whizzed past Sam's head as he took cover. He returned fire, forcing Creedy to hide behind a nearby car. So much for catching Gordon and Kubrick off guard. Speaking of which, the two of them came running out shooting. What started as a trap had turned against the brothers. "Hey ass hats over here!" Dean shouted, taking a few shots at Gordon. He took off running the opposite direction of Sam.

"Dean!" Sam shouted but his older brother wasn't listening. Kubrick and Creedy raced off after Dean but Gordon ignored him. He had his eyes dead set on Sam, advancing as he fired away. Gordon was barely missing and Sam didn't want that to change, taking off running towards a chain-link fence. Bullets whizzed by him as he scaled over it. He continued running into an alley and turned to check on his pursuer. To his surprise, Gordon was gone. Walker was a hunter and there's no way he would have lost Sam so easily. Unless something else got his attention.

Sam made his way back towards the hotel parking lot and was surprised to see Gordon nowhere in sight. His first instinct was that Gordon was setting a trap for him but everywhere he checked a possible ambush position, there was nothing. A new problem emerged as police sirens were heard in the distance. Someone must have called the cops and who could blame them after that little shootout. Sam quickly made himself scarce and hoped Dean was alright.

* * *

Dean groaned as he regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was getting the drop on one of Gordon's goons, pounding his face on a concrete pavement after the two of them knocked each other's weapon away. Then something hit him in the back of the head and he woke up here. Wherever here was, Dean found himself lying on his back staring up at a ceiling which looked like it belonged to an RV. His hands were bound behind him and the back of his head was throbbing in pain.

"He's awake," announced a voice, one of the Gordon's goons. Dean was grabbed by the shoulders and lifted to his feet before being shoved onto a mattress. Finally getting a good view of the room, Dean's instincts about this being an RV were right. It was covered in Jesus paraphernalia and crosses. Funny how the religious types could be so violent. Both of Gordon's trained monkeys were present but the boss himself was nowhere to seen.

"Where's Gordon?" demanded one of them, the older of the two with blond hair.

"Excuse me?" frowned Dean. That got him a punch to the gut.

"Don't get cute with me. What did your brother do to Gordon?" snapped Blondie. Looks like things weren't so bad after all. If Sam managed to take out Gordon, that just left these two. Of course Dean first needed to get himself out of this mess first.

"At your mother's house. I don't want to be one to judge but I think she's a little into the dead kinky…." chuckled Dean before he got a punch to the face. "Do that one more time. See what happens," Dean threatened Blondie.

"I've got a better idea. Creedy go get the girl," said Blondie. Creedy, the somewhat overweight dumb looking guy with a goatee, headed towards the door and left the trailer. Dean didn't need to be told who they were talking about. At least Bela was alive albeit for the moment. A minute later, Creedy returned with a very angry Bela. Her hands were tied behind her back and her hair was a mess.

"Hello Dean. I've waiting to do this," Bela said. Suddenly, she turned and lashed out with one of her elbows catching Dean in the face. She must have got him good because the next thing he knew, Dean was lying on the floor with a pain ridden jaw. "That's for getting me into this mess! I just spent the past few hours in a bloody car trunk!" Bela shouted at him, being restrained by Creedy.

"Nice to see you too," groaned Dean.

"Alright that's enough!" snapped Blondie who shoved Bela onto the mattress while Creedy helped Dean up and sat him down right next to Bela.

"Could be the concussion you gave me but I love your hair," chuckled Dean. Bela gave him a death glare.

"Alright enough flirting you two now how do you get in touch with your brother?" demanded Creedy.

"Sorry buddy but he doesn't swing on your side of the fence. You could always try online dating," mocked Dean. Creedy punched him in the stomach. Winchester was really starting to get pissed off. "I am going to kill you."

"Your brother's not answering his phone but you probably know that don't you?" Blondie glared at him. "Ditched it to make sure no one could trace him."

"Poppa didn't raise no fool," smirked Dean. They could use Dean's cellphone directory to track down Sam's number but it wouldn't do them much good. It was a lesson Dad taught them a long time ago. If it looks like one of the two was killed or captured, the other turns off their phone. That way whatever's hunting them can't track them with it.

Blondie suddenly pulled out a knife and grabbed Bela by the hair to pull her to her feet, sticking the knife under her neck. "Now you are going to tell me where that monster you call a brother is or I am going to split her open from ear to ear," Blondie threatened. Bela gave Dean a look, her eyes begging him to say something.

"Just hang on alright. If you want see your buddy again then you better put that knife down. Sam will kill Gordon if anything happens to even one of us," Dean warned. It seemed to work as Blondie put away the knife and then roughly shoved Bela back onto the mattress. Dean took the angry glare she gave him as her own way of saying thank you.

Blondie turned to Creedy. "Keep an eye on them and don't kill them. We might need them for leverage if Sam has Gordon," he ordered.

"Just where do you think you're going?" demanded Creedy.

"I'm going to head to local police station and get an APP circulated. The cops might actually be useful for once," answered Blondie before he left. And now there were three. Creedy kept a gun trained on Bela and Dean while he took a seat in a chair.

"So what's the plan?" whispered Bela.

"I'm thinking," mumbled Dean.

"We're screwed," growled Bela. Dean glared at her. "Honestly the more time I spent around you and your brother, the more I realize the legend of you two is vastly overrated."

"Our overrated asses saved yours just a few days ago. Can't say I surprised you need my help once again," shot back Dean.

"I'm in this mess because of you. If I didn't know you Winchesters, they wouldn't have come after me," snapped Bela.

"Shut up!" shouted Creedy. "I swear you two are worse than watching of an episode of Jerry Springer."

"Oh stay out of this picklepus. You should be grateful I didn't gank you back in that motel room in Buffalo," Dean vented his anger on his captor.

That didn't go over well with Creedy. "I don't know what kind of mojo you people were dabbling with but you've clearly lost it so don't push me."

Bela chimed in, "It was a rabbit's foot actually. I was going to make quite a fortune on it until Abbot here and his partner Sasquatch Costello burned it."

"Who's on first?" chuckled Dean. Bela rolled her eyes.

"Alright enough of the dysfunctional couple routine. Shut your mouths," ordered Creedy, losing his patience.

"Or what? You gonna run into a wall and knock yourself out again?" retorted Dean. Creedy stormed over to him and pistol whipped Dean in the face, knocking him to the floor. Dean was really getting tired of getting pounded every time he opened his mouth and yet he refused to shut up. Maybe he was just too stupid but he never backed down from a fight.

"Keep your mouth shut or the next time I'm gonna…," Creedy warned him before he gasped, his body twitching before falling right down on top off Dean and unfortunately, the man was quite heavy.

"Oh dammit," groaned Dean. He glanced up to see Bela with her hands free clenching a bloody knife. The same knife Blondie threatened to kill her with. She must have pickpocketed the man before he left and stabbed Creedy in the back of the head first chance she got. "You actually pickpocketed that?"

"Of course Dean. My main problem was waiting until the three stooges separated and I only had to deal with one of them. You provided a wonderful distraction by the way. Making friends must come naturally for you," chuckled Bela. She picked up Creedy's pistol and checked the amount of ammo in it.

"Uhh…a little help here," moaned Dean. Bela took her sweet time rolling Creedy off Dean and then didn't bother helping him up. Dean sighed in annoyance as he was forced to get to his feet by himself with his hands still bound. Bela cut Dean's hands free then headed towards the sick to wash the blood of her own hands. Normally Dean would lay into her for killing a human being but this bastard wanted to kill them. The truth was that he should have been killed the first time Dean had a chance to do it then they wouldn't be in this mess. At least it was one down and two to go.

* * *

After breaking into a local tarot reader's store and procuring a few items, Dean and Bela arrived at Sam's hotel room. It was at a motel the Winchesters agreed to fall back to if they were separated and their old motel room was compromised. Sam had the whole place barricaded and needed to move some furniture just to let the two of them inside. "So Bela's alright I see," he commented.

"Nice to see you too Sam. Give us some good news and tell us Gordon's taking a dirt nap," replied Bela.

"I don't know where he is," said Sam.

Bela sighed, "Am I the only one in this room that actually accomplishes anything?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Sam.

"Bela took care of the ugly goatee guy which just leaves the Jesus freak and the big cheese himself," explained Dean.

Bela headed off into a corner while the brothers argued about their recent gun fight with Gordon and his goons. Using a talking board, Bela contacted recently deceased spirits hoping to find any clues on Gordon or Kubrick. She needed them both dead and as quickly as possible. The Winchesters were unfortunately Bela's only real chance of getting out of her deal. She came to accept that after her little brush with death a few days ago with the drowning spirit. There was just something about Dean and Sam risking their lives to protect that had some kind of effect on her. Or maybe it was something else. Bela felt different around Dean the moment she first met him. Anyone else would call it an attraction but Bela always kept her distance from any kind of emotional connection. How could she be with anyone after what happened? Just watching a stupid romance flick would conjure painful memories of her past. Even in his grave, Father still haunts her.

After about twenty minutes, Bela's reading finally paid off. "I've got some good news. Kubrick's spirit is among the deceased. He's not talking much but he's at least he's no longer a problem," she said.

"Great. Hope Jesus freak ends up somewhere very hot," commented Dean.

"Anything about Gordon?" asked Sam.

"Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, blue neon sign outside. The spirits also said leave town, run like hell, and whatever you do don't go after Gordon," said Bela.

"Well I never was very good at listening," chuckled Dean. The two brothers started gathering up their weapons until they noticed Bela taking a seat. "You coming?" Dean inquired.

"Hell no. This is your mess you got me into. You go clean it up" scoffed Bela.

Dean glared at her. "Fine stay here then," he fumed. Bela watched the Winchesters leave and turned on the television. She doubted there was anything good on but she needed to wait until Gordon was dealt with then she would be on her merry way. Bela didn't want to head back home only for Gordon to eventually track her down. She needed to be sure something like this didn't happen again. Of course that didn't mean she was going to put her ass on the line especially when this was the Winchester's fault in the first place.

Nearly an hour later, Dean and Sam returned. "Don't tell me what you did with the body. Just tell me this is all over," Bela said to them as they came through the door. Judging from the look of their faces, it wasn't over.

"Gordon's a vampire," Sam blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Bela asked, hoping he was joking.

"We were hunting a vampire operating in the city before all of this started. He must have figured out there were hunters in town and managed to get the drop on Gordon. But instead of killing him, Count Chocula in his infinite wisdom decided to turn him into a vampire as some kind of punishment. We took care of the vamp but now Gordon's loose and stronger than ever," explained Dean.

"I guess we know who's responsible for killing Kubrick," sighed Sam.

"This is why you kill people that try to kill you. If you two bloody saints took care of those three when you have the upper hand on them, you wouldn't be in this mess. More importantly I wouldn't be in this with you!" snapped Bela. Dean explained their past encounters with Gordon, Creedy, and Kubrick after they escaped the trailer. More importantly he mentioned they could have killed all three of them at one point or another. Something Bela was sure to lay into them again after this. That is of course if they survive all of this.

"What do you know about vampires?" Dean asked her.

"They're rare but strong as hell and sunlight only gives them a tan. The only way to kill them is cut off their heads," replied Bela.

"Correct princess now you're gonna help us kill one," Dean remarked.

Damn it this was the last thing Bela wanted to get into. Once upon a time she was a hunter and got pretty good at killing things. However Bela wasn't very good at the saving human lives portion of the job. But Gordon was probably after her too so that left only one horrible option. Joining the Winchesters for a monster hunt. "Oh bullocks," Bela groaned.

* * *

"Well that was a day of my life I'll never get back," muttered Bela once she got back to the motel room with Dean. Sam was waiting for them there and obviously didn't have to ask whether the other two were successful. After finding Gordon's trailer with Kubrick's body inside, the three of them had split up and searched every motel, warehouse, and empty building they could find. Aside from a few squatters, no one found any clue where the new vampire was.

"It's a big city," muttered Sam.

"It's like a giant haystack and Gordon's a deadly needle," muttered Dean as he headed into the bathroom and washed his face off.

"Speaking of which. Dean nearly got me tetanus after he knocked me down to chase some squatter," Bela added.

"Oh shut up. It was an accident and for all I know it could have been Gordon," grumbled Dean.

"Are you two done flirting because we're running out of daylight," Sam spoke up. That earned him death glares from both his brother and Bela. "And once the sun's down he'll practically be unstoppable," he continued.

"Thank you captain obvious. Anything else you need to lecture us on that we already know?!" snapped Bela. To say that she was in a bad mood was an understatement. Thanks to these two, Bela was now possibly being hunted by a vampire and if he gets her scent then she'll never be safe. So now she was stuck helping Dean and Sam track Gordon down and killing him. Bela got out of the hunting business long ago because she was sick of putting her life on the line for nothing. At least when she was selling rare artifacts, she was getting paid for it.

"She's been like this the whole day. I'm just glad she's not on her period as well," Dean muttered to Sam. Bela was half ready to bolt out the door to give her some time away from the two stooges when she noticed Dean pulling an old colt revolver out of a drawer. "You two stay here."

"What? Where you going?" demanded Sam.

"I'm going after Gordon," stated Dean as he checked the revolver's ammo. Has he gone insane?

"With that peashooter? Dean if you to commit suicide just take some pills," laughed Bela.

Dean held up the pistol. "This smarty pants is the one weapon that can kill him without having to cut his head off," he said.

"You're serious?" frowned Bela.

"Kills everything. Including demons," Dean added. Bela couldn't imagine just how much that gun would sell for but that wasn't her first thought on what she could do with it. If it could kill demons then maybe Bela might finally have found some kind of leverage over the crossroad demons. Of course that meant stealing it and she wasn't prepared to do that just yet. For the moment Bela was content with letting Dean handle it.

"You're not going alone Dean," Sam said firmly.

"Sammy I don't need you to sign me a permission slip okay?" Dean replied. "He's after you, not me or you Bela. And right now he's supercharged. I want you both out of harm's way. I'll take care of it."

"I don't know whether to consider this sweet or stupid. You're going to get yourself killed," sighed Bela.

Dean smiled. "See. You do care about me," he chuckled. Bela rolled her eyes.

"So you're the guy with nothing to lose now huh?" snapped Sam. "Let me guess it's because you're already dead right?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Bela.

"Nothing," Dean said in a tone that meant drop the subject. Whatever was going on was apparently a private subject and they weren't going to discuss it in front of Bela.

"Fine. Have your brotherly chat in private," she grumbled before leaving the room.

* * *

Whatever Sam said to Dean apparently did the trick because the plan was to hold up in the hotel room for the night and then resume the search in the morning when it would be safer. Bela thought Dean was finally thinking rationally again but the argument earlier lingered in her mind. Something was going on with Dean and it wasn't good. Maybe he was dying but from what Bela couldn't say. The man seemed as healthy as a horse but then again that didn't mean he had something like maybe cancer or some kind of terminal illness. If so then it seemed Dean and Bela had something in common after all. They were both dying.

After barricading themselves in, the three waited for morning. They all had machetes in their hands or close by in case they had company. But hours passed and nothing happened. Bela was half tempted to ask Dean about his ailment just to pass the time when his cell phone rang which was strange because he just bought it.

"You've had that phone for two hours Dean. Who'd you give the number to?" grumbled Sam.

"Nobody," replied Dean who answered it. "Hello?...How'd you get this number?" He didn't need to tell them who was on the other line. Dean's face said it all. Gordon Walker. Dean made a few insults and offered to even tell Gordon where they were. Bela was about to lay into to him for doing something so reckless until she heard crying on the phone. Judging from Dean's face, he wasn't talking to just Gordon now. "Gordon let the girl go. Don't do this. You don't kill innocent people. You're still a hunter," Dean pleaded but then hung up a moment later.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Gordon's got a hostage. Wants us at an old factory down on Riverside in twenty minutes or he kills her," said Dean.

"Wait a minute. You're not seriously going?" Bela asked as the two started packing their weapons.

"Damn right we are," replied Dean.

"That's suicide. You'll be going after him at night in a building of his own choosing," said Bela.

"You coming or not?" Dean demanded to know impatiently.

"No. You two want to get yourselves killed then so be it but I'm not jumping off the cliff with you," scoffed Bela.

"You realize Gordon will come after you if he kills us," Sam stated.

"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it my whole life," Bela replied.

Now it was Dean's turn to scoff. "Yeah and you do it so well because you only care about yourself. I know you don't give a damn about that girl Gordon's got but just remember it was the two of us who saved you from that ghost in Sea Pines. So just maybe you might want to care about what happens to us since you might need our help again," he said.

Bela stayed exactly where she was seated, not moving an inch. Dean just shook his head and left with Sam. He was right about one thing. Bela didn't give a damn about that hostage. She didn't care whether that person lived or died. As minutes passed, Bela started thinking. Helping people wasn't a habit of hers but so far being selfish got her nowhere in saving her soul. The clock was ticking and while this pistol might just be her last chance, there was no guarantee it could save her. Even if she could kill the hellhounds that would come for her, she was still screwed. It didn't matter if you died days after your deal expired or years later, the destination afterwards was still the same. And just maybe there was something Bela cared about besides herself. Maybe not the hostage but someone else.

* * *

Dean groaned as he struggled to get back to his feet. Gordon's hostage turned out to be a vampire and nearly just killed Dean. Luckily he managed to get a shot off with the Colt and the blood sucker was dead. But now Dean was separated from Sam and Gordon was still out there. He made his way around the building back to where he got separated from Sam and found someone killed the lights. Now he was hunting a vampire in the dark. This day just keeps getting better and better.

A sound caught Dean's attention. Like something just ran through a wooden wall. He dashed towards the source and found he was right. Something literally ran through a wall and in the other room Dean saw Gordon tossing Sam into a too rack. Raising the colt, Dean rushed inside and took aim. But Gordon turned around and caught Dean with a right hand and before he knew it he was flying into a wall. The whole room seemed to spin as Dean could hear Sam and Gordon fighting but he was too disoriented to do anything about it.

Then a shape passed by him and a shot rang out. Dean's senses came back to him as he could finally make out what had happened. Gordon's body dropped to the ground, his neck wrapped in barb wire. Sam stood over him but he seemed confused until he noticed something. Dean followed his brother's eye and found Bela with the colt raised in her right hand, smoking from a recent shot. "Glad to see I didn't miss all the fun," she quipped as she took a closer examination of the weapon. "Nice toy," she commented.

Dean got back to his feet and snatched the colt out of her hands. "Don't get any funny ideas," he mumbled to her. Then he noticed a nearby sign that said 183 days with an incident. Dean just shook his head and knocked the numbers down.

"I thought you said you weren't coming with us," said Sam.

"I changed my mind. Someone has to save me from vengeful spirits," shrugged Bela. A smile formed on Dean's face at her comment.

Outside, the Winchesters bandaged themselves up at the Impala while Bela watched in amusement. "I think you can handle yourselves from here boys," she said.

"Where are you headed next?" Sam asked.

"To get my car back. It's probably still sitting in the same spot when I got grabbed. Do me a favor you two and next time some hunters try to kill you, kill them so they don't end up kidnapping me," she said.

"I guess we owe you one. Still in the mood for celebrating?" Dean smirked, making a joke about their phone conversation when Bela warned them.

Bela smiled back. "I've had my fill of this town but don't worry you don't owe me anything." She turned and headed towards a car she "borrowed" to get here. Dean couldn't help but feel this wasn't the last time he was going to see her again.

* * *

At their motel room, Sam and Dean were exhausted and tired. After getting beat up by a vamped up Gordon and getting no sleep, the two of them didn't exactly look at their peak. Dean was lying on his bed while Sam freshening up in the bathroom. "You know we should at least hit some blackjack tables before we skip town," suggested Dean.

"Be my guest," muttered Sam. Dean headed to the room safe and was thinking about what casino to check out as he entered the combination. He opened it up and didn't find fifty thousand dollars, only a small handwritten note. He picked it up and quickly skimmed through it.

**Hello boys. If you're still alive then I wanted you to know I subtracted my fee for helping you out and getting forced into this whole mess. If you're not then I figured I shouldn't let fifty grand go to waste.**

Dean finally understood why Bela said they didn't owe her anything earlier. "SON OF A BITCH!"

(If you think this chapter was different from the normal episode, wait until the next one. I was disappointed when in I Dream A Little Dream of Me that they didn't try to utilize the dreamscape as best as they could. But since I don't have to worry about certain things like a TV budget, I'm going to change that. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)


	4. Dream a Little Dream of Me (part 1)

(For people who enjoyed the previous long chapters I hoped you enjoy this one too.)

_Flames enveloped her body as she screamed. The pain was unbearable as the flesh started melting. She could see the bones on her hands as her skin slide of her like jelly. The blood in her veins bubbled and exploded, spraying red mist all before her eyes. This was impossible! She still had a few months left. It couldn't be up now! Then as quickly as the horror began, it ended. Bela suddenly found herself standing in an empty warehouse completely unharmed as if the pain she felt before never happened._

"_Just a little sneak peek of the coming attraction," a male voice laughed in a Scottish accent. It echoed all along the walls and ceiling, making Bela unable to guess its origin._

"_Where am I? Who are you?!" demanded Bela._

"_Call it a meeting of the minds sweetheart. The deal you made created a link between you and me. And while I can't use it to track you down, I can use it to visit your dreams," the voice stated. A man suddenly appeared in front of her. Average height with dark hair and pale white skin. He wore an expensive business suit and tie as if he was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The moment he mentioned deal, Bela knew he was some sort of Crossroads Demon. But since when came they invade your dreams? That was a slight problem. One Bela would have to look into solving once she woke up. _

"_Who are you?" Bela repeated her earlier question._

"_If you know anything about business my dear then you know that every salesman has to fill a quota. Enough to keep their supervisors content enough to keep their jobs. I'm the one they need to keep content," the demon smiled. His eyes flashed a deep red, revealing he was a Crossroads Demon._

"_So the top sales demon wears a kilt?" mocked Bela. Obviously the demon had come to her because he needed something and it was better to negotiate if you didn't sound desperate so she just laughed this all off._

_The demon glared at her. "Don't talk about kilts and don't call me a sales demon. It's King of the Crossroads to you but Crowley will do luv," he said. Bela wasn't familiar with the name. Azazel, Lilith, Asteroth, and others were important figures in demonic lore but she never heard of Crowley in any of her research._

"_You pay a visit to all of your customers like this? Or do you just enjoy playing Freddy Krueger?" asked Bela._

"_I won't be caught dead in a fedora and no I don't revisit old customers. The hellhounds do that for me," smirked Crowley. That last comment made Bela shiver. "I'm here because I have a problem. My employer…yes even I have a boss…has been having a lot of sleepless nights as of late. Ever heard of Azazel?" Bela nodded in response. "Good. Old yellow eyes was the top dog for millennia. The bloody King of Hell itself. Then two annoying insignificant little prats by the name of the Winchesters managed to do the impossible. They killed him. All thanks to some old antique colt revolver that somehow can kill anything it shoots."_

_Bela couldn't say she was surprised. From the moment Dean first told her about it, she knew it was her ticket to getting out of her deal. The problem was figuring out how. Now just maybe with the right push she could get finally get her soul freed from damnation. "If your boss wants it so badly why doesn't he just go after the Winchesters?"_

"_The he is a she and the Hardy boys have been on quite the lucky streak as of late. Azazel, the seven deadly sins, and Asteroth are just a few of their most recent victims. I find this whole trying to kill them gag to be rather ineffective when you can simply hire a thief to get what I want," explained Crowley._

_Bela had to bite her tongue for a moment. She couldn't appear desperate now. She needed to seem willing to walk away. "Normally I always accept someone's money without question but I don't take a demon's," Bela stated._

"_Don't be so piggish darling. I know what you really want so go ahead and ask for it," Crowley replied._

"_My soul for the colt. I get your precious antique for you and you rip up my contract. Nonnegotiable," Bela said firmly._

"_Deal," smiled Crowley who snapped his fingers._

* * *

Bela's eyes snapped open as she realized the dream was over. She checked her alarm clock and realized she only had gotten a few hours of sleep. It was the middle of the afternoon and Bela felt somewhat groggy from barely getting any sleep last night from a lengthy negotiation over the price of a rare artifact. But that didn't matter because for the first time in almost nine years, Bela finally felt a sense of hope.

She was about to grab her cell phone and call Dean. But the more she thought about it, the more Bela realized that might not be the best approach. If she calls asking for the Winchesters for their location like what happened with Gordon Walker a few months back, they'd be suspicious. Bela liked to think she'd earned their trust after helping them but the fact was that every time she encounters the Winchesters, she steals something from them. First it was the lottery tickets, then the Impala, then the Hand of Glory, and most recently the fifty grand she paid them for saving her life. They might trust her enough to work with her but not keep their stuff around her.

Bela's cell phone rang and to her surprise, it was Dean's number. That's a little surprising and convenient. He hasn't called her since the Gordon Walker incident in Atlantic City so it must be important. She took a deep breath before she answered her phone in a cheerful voice. "Hello Dean."

"Bela we need your help," Dean said with urgency.

"You certainly do when it comes to your manners. You're supposed to start a phone conversation with hello," Bela joked.

"Not in the mood for this. Look do you know Bobby Singer?" Dean asked impatiently. Bela certainly did from her time in Flagstaff. He put her in touch with a wealthy entrepreneur to sell some amulet so Bela sent him an expensive bottle of whiskey as a thank you.

"I ran into him at Flagstaff though I mostly remember his mustache and the fact that he smelled like liquor," admitted Bela.

"He's in trouble. Bobby's in some kind of coma and he won't wake up," Dean said, ignoring her joke. He explained that Bobby was investigating a professor's strange death and apparently was now a victim of the same killer. The perp was using an African Dream Root to attack Bobby in his sleep like Freddy Krueger. "We need to talk to Bobby to figure out who's doing this and the only way to do that is enter his dream."

"And let me guess. You need me to get you some Silene Capensis," Bela said. She was quite familiar with the plant as it had mystical properties and worth a good fortune to the right customer.

"Yeah…that thing. We'll pay you whatever you want," Dean replied. Bela had to bite her tongue before demanding the colt. There was no way in hell they were going to make a deal like that and besides, Bela didn't want to devastate Dean. She'd get him what he wants and once Bobby was safe and sound, she'd snatch the colt and split. She's pretty sure that would be the end for whatever friendship she has with Dean but at least she'd be alive.

"That plant is pretty rare Dean. I can't make any promises that I'll find one in time to save Bobby," Bela explained and it was the truth. African Dream Roots were difficult to cultivate and most died before even sprouting from a seed.

"Just do whatever you have to," sighed Dean. She was going to take his advice and not in the way he expects.

"I always do Dean. I'll be touch," Bela smiled before hanging up.

* * *

**Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania **

Dean had a subtle urge to blow out his brains as he skimmed through Doctor Walter Gregg's research. The man's notes mentioned so many things that were above Dean's head and that was what he could make out. The handwriting was horrendous just like any typical doctor and he didn't have a list of the volunteers for his experiments. For all Dean knew, the killer might not even be a volunteer at all which left him at square one. While he was suffering through research, Sam on the other hand was catching some shut eye and seemed to be dream. Judging from the noises he was making, it must have been a good one.

Dean found it unfair that he was miserably reading illiterate notes while Sam was seemingly having a threesome with Jessica Biel and Olivia Wilde. Finally he just couldn't take it anymore and called out, "Sam wake up!" Sam slowly stirred in his seat and suddenly sat up, wiping drool of his hand. Dean couldn't help but laugh at his brother's embarrassment. "Dude you were out and making some serious happy noises. Who were you dreaming about?"

"What? Nothing. No one," Sam answered in a way that screams I'm a liar.

"Come on you can tell me. Angelina Jolie?" asked Dean.

"No."

"Brad Pitt?"

"No!" Sam replied, slightly embarrassed. "Dude it doesn't matter."

Dean just shrugged and changed the topic. "I called Bela," he stated.

"Bela…yeah. What'd she…you know say? She gonna…help us?" asked a stuttering Sam. That must have been one hell of a dream for him to be this flustered.

"She said she'd be in touch but since I haven't heard back from her in the past few hours, I'm pretty sure we're back to square one. I've been trying to decipher the doctor's notes. Unfortunately he has worse handwriting then you do. You gonna help me with this stuff?" Dean explained.

Sam seemed somewhat shaken up as he answered, "Yeah just give me a sec." That must have been a damn good dream.

Before he could get up, there was a knock on the door. Dean immediately pulled out a pistol and slowly made his way to the door. After slighting opening it for a peak, Dean didn't know whether to be happy or angry when he saw Bela. He called her hours ago and suddenly she show up unannounced at their hotel room. Dean didn't bother wondering how she found them even though she was never told where they were staying. All he cared about is whether she got that African Dream Root. Dean stepped aside and let Bela step inside.

"Bela as I live and breathe," Dean sighed.

"I see your manners still need help. I'm starting to think they're a lost cause," commented Bela.

"Hey Bela…what's going on?" Sam greeted her. Since when was he so nice to Bela? Dean thought he was still holding a grudge for getting shot by her.

"Did you get it?" Dean demanded. He didn't want to sound ungrateful but there was no telling how much longer Bobby had to live.

Bela pulled out a plastic container from her purse containing a small ugly looking plant. "Here you go. Nasty stuff and not easy to come by," she said.

Dean took it but something in the back of his mind said something was off. It could be paranoia in that every time Bela shows up, she steals something from them. "Then how'd you come by it so quickly? I don't hear peep from you for hours and then you just show up without even a phone call telling me you're on the way?" he glared at her.

"If I wanted someone demanding to know where I am every hour of the day I'll get a husband," chuckled Bela. Dean tried not to blush at the insult. "I had to call in quite a few favors and probably lost a customer getting this so I think a little gratitude is appropriate."

"Alright then what's the strings?" asked Dean.

"What does that even mean? Did they teach you English at school? Oh wait let me guess. You're a dropout. That would explain a few things," chuckled Bela as she took off her coat. Behind her, Sam seemed to gasp.

Dean was losing his patience. "What do we owe you Bela?" he snapped.

"I haven't decided yet. I think every relationship needs a little mystery," smirked Bela. Dammit was she intentionally trying to make him blush because it was starting to work. "Speaking of which. When do we go on this little magical mystery tour?"

"Oh you're not going," replied Dean. "I don't trust you enough to ride in my car much less Bobby's head. No offense." It was a slight lie but a believable one. It wasn't that he thought she couldn't take care of herself, Dean just didn't want Bela to get hurt. This was Sam and Dean's fight, not her's.

"None taken," Bela said with an angry smile. Dean took the container to the room safe and set it next to the colt. After shutting the safe and spinning the dial, he turned back to Bela whose smirk and charming attitude were gone. "It's two am. Where am I supposed to go?"

"Get a room. They got the magic fingers, a little Casa Erotica on pay per view, you'll love it," smiled Dean. Furious, Bela grabbed her coat and stormed out of the room.

"Nice seeing you Bela," Sam called out her as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Dean threw him a look. "Nice seeing you Bela?" he frowned.

* * *

Bela was livid as she purchased herself a hotel room for the night, coincidently a few doors down from the Winchester's. The nerve Dean had to tell her that after all she's done for them. Sure she stole from them a couple of times but she also saved their lives as well. Bela was starting to feel less and less guilty about stealing the colt. But she wondered whether this was about trust or some knight in shining armor routine. The idea that Dean was keeping her out of this because he was afraid of Bela getting hurt only infuriated her more. She really should just let that chauvinist pig and his younger brother deal with whatever's killing Bobby by themselves. In the meantime, she could sneak into their room and take the colt while they were off fighting Freddy Krueger.

But for some reason Bela just couldn't get over being left behind on this. It wasn't like she needed to prove anything to Dean or really owed Bobby Singer enough to risk her life for him but Bela kept herself a leaf of the African Dream Root she gave the Winchesters and some hairs from Bobby's head. She was planning on selling the leaf and giving the boys the hair just in case they didn't understand how to do the ritual correctly. Apparently they do which means Bela had everything she needed to pop in and join in their little trip down the rabbit hole.

Bela questioned why she was even doing this as she mixed a hair and the leaf into a cup of tea. It wasn't like she should feel left out. The boys might get themselves killed in dreamland which Bela found the idea more horrifying then satisfying. She kept trying to come up with more reasons to not do this but here she was, ready to join the boys. Bela knew she was going to regret this. "Bottoms up," she groaned as she gulped it down the hatchet. Instantly, Bela had to resist the urge to gag. This stuff was disgusting.

She waited a minute or two but strangely enough didn't feel groggy or tired at all. Bela started to think she stole the wrong plant until she noticed she wasn't in the same room anymore. It was a single bedroom but everything was wrong. It had red and yellow flowered wallpaper with pictures along the wall of Bobby Singer and some woman Bela didn't recognize. They both seemed happy but the strange thing was how young Bobby looked. He might have been thirty years younger but still had the same mustache. The whole room had a retro vibe to it with the old clocks and black and white pictures.

"Great. All I need is a little black dog and some red slippers," Bela told herself as got up and headed towards the door. It opened into a hallway that had the same decades old dress up. "Dean! Sam! Bobby!" Bela called out but got no answer. As she stepped into the hallways, Bela realized she didn't really have a way to get out of this. She had been so concerned on getting into Bobby's head that she didn't think about how to get out of it. Spending so much time with the Winchesters was starting to make her stupid. Who knew it could be contagious.

Bela headed towards the stairs located the end of the hallways but stopped when she heard footsteps. Someone was coming up. Not taking any chances, she ducked into a nearby room…and suddenly found herself outside in the middle of a crowded carnival. Bela turned around but the door she went through was just gone. It was unnerving how one minute she was in a quiet house and now in a loud fairground. Stalls were lined up all with various games and shops. Like the room earlier, it came off as something from a few decades ago. On the bright side, nothing was trying to kill her. At least not yet.

She moved through the crowd, bumping into several people who didn't even seem to notice her. "Bobby! Sam!" a familiar voice shouted over the crowd. Bela spotted Dean pushing and shoving his way around. Judging from the fact that Sam wasn't around and Dean was calling his name, the two got separated. As usual, it looks like the Winchesters were off to a great start.

"You lost Sam already?" Bela laughed as she came up behind him.

Dean sighed and turned around with an irritated look on his face. "What the hell are you doing here Bela?"

"You told me I couldn't come which made me want to," shrugged Bela. That was about as honest an answer as she possibly could give.

Dean glared at her. "That's it? If I told you not to jump off a bridge, you'd just noise dive off the closest one you can find?"

"Well I do like bungee jumping," replied Bela. That seemed to piss Dean off even more which made Bela smile triumphantly.

"Since you're here be useful and help me find Bobby and Sam," grumbled Dean.

"As long as it's together which is what you and Sam should have done in the first place," agreed Bela.

"Everyone's a critic," Dean grumbled. The two of them wondered around the carnival and while it had hundreds of people, they all seemed familiar. In fact the stalls they passed by seemed familiar as well. "Is it just me or did we just pass that game?" Dean asked. He was referring to a stall for a game where you toss a ping pong ball into a series of glass jars. Bela had to admit she thought it did look familiar.

"We've been going around in circles? But we've haven't made a single turn," Bela commented.

"Welcome to wonderland sweetheart," replied Dean. Then he frowned and headed towards the ping pong stall. Bela followed and noticed he was taking a closer look at a young couple. As she got closer, Bela recognized them from the pictures in the room she just came from. "Bobby?" Dean asked before she could. He didn't have the mustache or the beer gut but it was definitely him albeit in his twenties. He actually wasn't that bad looking in his prime.

"Bobby that you?" Dean called out to the younger Singer but the man didn't seem to hear a word he said. He tapped Bobby on the shoulder but the young man didn't even seem to notice, continuing to play the ping pong game. "Bobby!"

"Calm down Dean. He's just a part of the dream," Bela reminded him.

"I don't think so. If this was just a dream then shouldn't the real Bobby be around here? This is something else," said Dean. Bobby managed to score enough to win a stuffed bear and handed it to his lady friend. Dean's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"What?" asked Bela.

"That's the same toy Bobby always gave Sammy to play with whenever our dad would drop us off at his place," said Dean. Bobby's girlfriend smiled at the sight of her present and the two walked off holding hands.

"And that means what exactly?" Bela asked.

"I don't know," frowned Dean. He started following the couple so Bela followed him. It wasn't like she had any idea what else they should do. The couple they followed went around a stall out of sight. Dean and Bela turned the corner, only to almost lose their heads as a machete swung just inches away from their necks. The attack caused Bela to stumble backwards, nearly losing her balance if she didn't grab onto Dean's shoulder. The only thing more surprising than the sudden attack was the identity of their attacker. A large man wearing a hockey mask and holding a machete.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," groaned Dean. He took the words right out of Bela's mouth. The two backed off and their attacker followed them. Bela would have thought all of this was completely ridiculous if Mister Friday the 13th hadn't almost taken her head off. She wasn't sure if getting killed in this dream world would make her wake up or die in the real world but it was best not to find out. Jason reached up and grabbed his hockey mask, pulling it off. The face underneath wasn't disfigured or ugly but rather a normal face you'd see walking down the street. With his brown hair and goatee, the young man looked more like a college student then a slasher killer.

"You!" said Dean.

Bela turned to him. "You know him?"

The stranger smiled, "I gotta say I really wasn't expecting to see you here but I'm kinda glad. Two birds, one stone." He hurled the machete through the air. Dean tackled Bela to the ground just in time as the blade passed over their heads. It impaled a pedestrian who dropped to the ground like a bloody doll. Everyone around him continued playing games and walked on by as if they didn't see a thing.

Dean scrambled over the body and pulled the machete out of the corpse. "Who's the bad ass now?" he smirked. The stranger just smiled and snapped his fingers. Instantly the machete began to wriggle like rubber and shifted into a king cobra. Bela watched Dean struggled with it, grabbing the snake by the head before it bite while it coiled around his hands. She ran over and managed to untangle the serpent, allowing Dean to toss it away into a nearby stall.

"You two had no idea who you're dealing with. Out in the real world I was a nobody but here I'm god," laughed the attacker. His right palm expanded and grew, changing into silver metal. Within seconds, he had grown a new machete right out of it. This was not a fight Bela or Dean could win. This guy was morphing the dream world around them at will.

"Run," Bela whispered to Dean. He wasn't happy about it but he didn't argue with her as they took off. They jumped over a stall, knocking the game host down as they dashed through an exit in the back of the tent. As soon as they ran through, the two found themselves inside a living room. Bela turned around but the way they came in had seemingly become a wall. The room had a 1960s look you'd see watching an episode of Mad Men. "Not again," Bela grumbled.

"Well at least I don't see mister slasher fan," Dean commented.

"Who was that guy anyways?" demanded Bela.

"His name is Jeremy Frost, one of Dr. Gregg's test subjects. Doc fed him African Dream Root and I guess we just saw the end result. I should have known something was off about that guy. His room was covered in old horror movie posters," explained Dean.

"Terrific. A Nightmare on Elm Street fan turning into his hero," muttered Bela. The two went silent when they heard a noise in a nearby room. Bela grabbed a vase while Dean grabbed a small lamp. They looked a little ridiculous using them as weapons but they were a little short on options at the moment. The two stopped in front of a door where they could hear an argument going on the next room between a man and woman.

Dean kicked the door open and the two lunged inside, only to find three people who didn't even seem to notice they barging in. One was man in his forties dressed in a mechanic's uniform while the woman had a 1960s dress and a young boy about maybe ten stood in the doorway to another room terrified. Probably a husband, wife, and their child. The woman was on her hands and knees cleaning up a mess on the tile floor while the man loomed over her. The sight of it was very unnerving. "Don't you tell me what to do," the man spat at her before slapping her across the face. The boy took off running.

"Son of a…" Dean was about to kill the abusive man before Bela stopped him.

"Dean wait. None of this is real," she reminded him.

"I don't care," Dean shrugged her off and proceed to smash the husband in the back of the head with the lamp he was holding. The man staggered forward but didn't even seem to register that something happened. "This doesn't make any sense. What kind of a dream is this?"

"I don't think it's a dream at all," Bela spoke up. "Have you noticed in that carnival we couldn't really change anything? What if this isn't a dream but rather a memory?"

Dean threw her a look. "I thought the dream root could only make us enter people's dreams."

"I guess it can do more than that," shrugged Bela. This was certainly a side of Bobby Dean had never experienced before and probably one the old man never talked about. Not that Bela blamed him. There was something about the horror of what happens when a loved one hurts you that is almost shameful. When it first started Bela actually blamed herself. **A man has needs.** God those words terrified.

"I said I'm sorry," the mother pleaded, blood dripping down her nose.

"Yeah you say that every time," grumbled the father.

"Please just stop."

"NO! This time you listen!"

"Stop it," said a voice. Bela turned to see the son had returned with a hunting rifle.

The father started laughing, "You're kidding right? You're not half a man enough to use that thing. Now leave so the adults can sort this out." His sarcastic tone turned dangerous. "I will deal with you later."

The father grabbed his wife by the hair and pulled onto her feet. She screamed in pain and in terror. "Bobby just do what he says." Well that confirmed Bela's suspicions on who the son was.

"No leave her alone," the boy said with a conviction that meant he was going to shoot. Clearly the father was too stupid to realize that when young Bobby aimed the rifle at his head. BANG! The gunshot startled Bela. Blood dripped down his forehead before the father dropped to the floor lifeless. Bela was just completely speechless as was Dean. This was one part of Bobby's life neither of them wanted to see. Sure the dad got what was coming to him but to shoot your own father as such a young age wasn't something you ever get over. Bela did the same thing to her own parents but they constantly haunt her. She just hoped they weren't waiting for her down in Hell to get their revenge.

"C'mon let's get outta here," whispered Dean, shaken up from what he witnessed. Bela nodded then noticed movement on the father's chest. She thought he was still breathing but that was impossible. He took a bullet straight through the forehead. Then blood splashed onto the chest that Bela realized he wasn't breathing. Something was breaking out. A small creature burst through the chest cavity and clothing, sending blood splatters everywhere. It hissed and slithered out of the body like a snake.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," groaned Dean. Bela understood why he felt that way. It looked exactly like something out of the movie Alien. And worse, it was starting to grow. Within seconds, it had grown arms and legs. It stood up and was already four feet tall. Its yellow skin turned black as it opened its jaws to reveal a second mouth. "RUN!" shouted Dean. The two dashed out of the kitchen, the creature in pursuit. Dean slammed the door shut and shoved a nearby chair under the handle to jam it. The alien pounded on the door, screeching in frustration. Wood exploded as the second mouth smashed through the door like a jackhammer.

Bela turned to run towards the front door except there was a problem. It had been replaced by a brick wall. The same thing happened to the windows. It was like that scene in the Matrix when the Agents found Neo and the others and locked them into a building to kill them off. "I take it Jeremy is an Alien fan?" Bela asked.

"Well he did have the poster on his wall. To think I actually liked that movie," grumbled Dean. The Xenomorph was tearing the door open with its bare hands, revealing it was now over six feet tall and covered in slime. Bela and Dean dashed towards the stairs with the monster in pursuit. The windows upstairs were bricked up the same as the others. Bela ran into the nearest room she could find and Dean followed, closing the door behind him. Once again the alien was tearing through the door except now Bela and Dean were running out of rooms to run to except for maybe the closet. Unless they were missing something. Somehow they were jumping through Bobby's memories which meant there had to be a way to control it. Hell they had taken the same drugs as Jeremy so they should be able to do the same things he can do. Bela tried to conjure a weapon into her hands with her thoughts but nothing happened.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but I really should have listened to you. I should have just let you and Sam deal with this," gulped Bela.

Dean threw her a look. "Oh so you wished it was just me about to die and not you too? Thanks!" he snapped at her. He grabbed a small lamp table and started bashing the alien's face when it burst through the door. It let loose an irritated screech and backed off. Whatever satisfaction Dean must have felt quickly faded when the Xeno's tail shot through the opening and impaled Dean's weapon, nearly killing him as well. The Alien broke into the room and immediately advanced towards Dean. "Oh son of a bitch," he groaned.

Suddenly Bela's eyes snapped open and she realized was back in her hotel room. For a moment Bela thought she was still dreaming but Dean was nowhere to be seen like the last time she transitioned from one memory to another. Unless he was dead but that wouldn't explain how she got here unless Jeremy Frost was just screwing with her. There was only one way to find out. Bela left her room and ran one floor up to the Winchester's room. She banged on the door until finally Sam answered the door. "Oh uhh… hi Bela," he stuttered. Seriously what was wrong with him?

"Where's Dean?" she demanded, shoving past Sam into the room. Standing in the middle of the room safe and sound was Dean.

Bela actually let herself breathe a sigh of relief. "I thought you were monster chow."

"That makes two of us. Were you worried about me?" Dean remarked with that usual arrogant smirk.

Bela quickly hid whatever feelings she had and replied, "Only that I'd wouldn't get ten grand from you. Consider it my fee." That quickly wiped the smirk off his face.

* * *

"And after Sam found me and convinced me it was all a dream, I woke up. I'm guessing the three of you did the same once I did," Bobby explained. Dean and Bela were in his hospital room finally getting some answers on what happened while Sam headed to Jeremy Frost's dorm room to deal with him. The punk shouldn't be too big of a problem to deal with in the real world.

"So I guess we both owe you one for waking up when you did," commented Dean.

"You've got it the other way around. Before I woke up, the things that were attacking me seemed to diminish just before Sam found me. I'm guessing once you two got stoner boy's attention, he concentrate fully on killing me. If you hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have lasted another minute," said Bobby.

"Good because that's the last time I play bait on a hook," muttered Bela. Dean seemed amused by her mood which only made it worse.

"Hey Bobby…" Dean started to say awkwardly. "...When we roaming around in your head, we saw some things."

Bobby narrowed his eyes. "What things?" Bela decided to let Dean to do all the talking.

"Well the things we saw didn't feel like a dream. We saw you with a very…attractive woman at a carnival and then we saw a boy…shoot his father before he could hit his mother," explained Dean. Bobby sighed but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry," Dean added.

"Don't be sorry. If it wouldn't for you, I'd still be lost in there or dead. Thank you," Bobby told him.

Bela was half tempted to just walk out and let the boys have their little bonding moment all to themselves until she saw Sam walk in. "So Stoner boy wasn't in his dorm. My guess is he's long gone by now," he said.

"He ain't much of a stoner. Jeremy's got a 160 IQ and that's saying something considering his dad took a baseball bat to his head," replied Bobby. Bela was starting to think everyone she meets has daddy issues. "The injury gave him Charcot-Wilbrand. He hasn't dreamt since."

"Until the professor started giving him dream root," Bela chimed in.

"Yeah. From what I understand the professor wanted to stop the experiments. I guess Jeremy didn't take that very well," nodded Bobby.

"How did he get inside your head in the first place? Isn't he supposed to have some of your hair, your DNA, or something?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," groaned Bobby. "Before I knew it was him, he offered me a beer. I drank it. Dumbest friggen thing." Well that was just stupid. Bela never accepted a drink from anyone for one simple reason. She was a beautiful woman who was never going to be anyone's victim.

"Oh I don't know. It wasn't that dumb," stuttered Dean. Everyone glared at him and probably figured out what that meant. Bela certainly did.

"Dean you didn't," moaned Sam.

"I was thirsty," sighed Dean.

"That's great. Now he can come after either one of you," snapped Sam. He wasn't the only one who was angry.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you people? Was it Sam's turn to use the brain cell this week?!" Bela exploded.

"Calm down you two. All we gotta do is find the little bastard before we go to sleep and problem solved," Dean replied.

"Well then we better work fast and coffee up. Because the one thing we cannot do is fall asleep," stated Bobby.

"Ah the guy's a scrawny college student without a full time job and living mostly on financial aid. How hard could he be to find?" chuckled Dean.

* * *

**Two Days Later**

Bela really wished she recorded Dean when he asked how hard could it be to find Jeremy. Because after forty-eight hours of checking every motel, hotel, empty house, strip club, or any possible place the stoner could have been hiding turned up nothing. While Bela and Sam could get some sleep, Dean and Bobby were running on fumes and caffeine. Both of them were getting impatient and agitated at the slightest thing. Not sleeping for nearly two days would do that to you. While Dean and Sam were still checking around the city, Bela was in Bobby's hotel room trying to use some tarot cards to contact spirits of the deceased. Bobby himself was staying with her to make sure somebody could keep him from accidently dozing off but the old man seemed to be holding up better than Dean.

"Find anything?" Bobby asked Dean on his cell phone. Judging from his face, he didn't get good news. "Strip club was a bust huh?...That was our last lead…Don't yell at me boy! I'm working my ass off here…Well who aint?" Bobby exchanged words with Dean. Bela was glad she wasn't a part of that conversation. The more she thought about this, the more she was starting to think they were going about this in the wrong way. Instead of hopelessly searching around, there was one place they knew Jeremy would be.

"Tell Dean to come back to the hotel. I have an idea," Bela instructed Bobby. He threw her a look but did as he was told.

After Bobby hung up, he cast a suspicious glare at Bela. "Let me ask you something. What are you doing helping us?" he asked.

"I have my reasons," was the only answer Bela would give him. Truthfully she should have just stolen the Colt and skipped out on all of this days ago but just like before, the Winchesters or rather one of them had this annoying habit of making Bela want to ensure he doesn't get himself killed. To say that it was a problem was an understatement. Bela couldn't afford to keep taking risks like this especially with her time running out and the way out of her deal so close.

About half an hour later, Dean and Sam returned to the hotel room. "You got something?" Dean blurted out the moment he stepped into the room. Someone was getting impatient.

"Well I don't know where our little dream walker is right now but we all know where he'll be the moment you or Bobby take a nap," stated Bela.

"You're not seriously suggesting that we take this guy head on in wonderland," sighed Sam.

"Actually I am only this time we even the odds. He was able to manipulate the dream world around him but we couldn't. Why you ask? Simple, he took a larger dosage of the plant. So we split the rest of the plant we have amongst ourselves then get ready for round 2," explained Bela.

"And go Freddy Krueger on his ass. Nice," smiled Dean.

Bobby on the other hand wasn't so enthusiastic. "We don't know how much dream root this guy has. For all we know Mister Sandman might still be too powerful for you three to handle," he pointed out.

"We don't exactly have much of a choice. For all we know he might be two states away and if you two keep avoiding sleep like you are right now…well let's just say you'll start bearing a resemblance to Gollum from Lord of the Rings. One more thing. Since Dean, Sam, and I already have some dream root still in us, we should divide the plant between the three of us. Sorry Bobby but you'd just be a liability needing more of the plant to get caught up," replied Bela. Bobby wasn't comfortable with the plan and Sam didn't seem to like it either but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. They chopped up what remained of the dream root into three piles, mixed them in with whiskey, and down the hatchet they went. It tasted even worse than last time.

Within seconds, Bela went from lying on a bed to standing in the middle of an empty street on what looked like a major city. Skyscrapers were everywhere you looked but yet it all seemed unnervingly empty besides the Winchesters standing beside her. "Wow this is like the beginning scene of 28 Days Later," commented Sam.

"I hate zombies," Dean grumbled. They walked down the empty streets, sticking together as they navigated around the buildings. The city itself didn't remind Bela of anywhere in particular. It was almost like a mesh of different buildings from different cities all over the world had been planted together in this gigantic mess of steel towers. "Okay more of that plant in you has a matrix effect right? You get to bend the rules and change things around you?"

"We better hope so or this is going to be really short confrontation," muttered Sam.

"I thought Dean was the pessimist of you two," replied Bela.

Instantly, an M4 assault rifle appeared in Dean's hands. Sam and Bela looked in amazement as various weapons appeared and disappeared in his hands. "Oh this is awesome. Grand Theft Auto style!" he laughed. Then something caught his eye and he immediately conjured a 50 caliber minigun. Bela turned to see Jeremy quickly scrambling for cover as Dean unloaded a barrage of bullets at him. "Yeah you better run bitch!" Dean shouted at him. Sam and Bela took off running after their quarry with Dean ditching his oversized weapon for a smaller pistol. Sam conjured up a pistol of his own and when Bela concentrated, did the same. Looks like the tables had turned.

Jeremy bolted into a skyscraper with his three persuaders close behind him. Bela took a few shots at him but missed. The bastard was fast for a stoner. Jeremy rushed through the lobby and towards a door labeled Stairs. Sam took a shot but Jeremy turned and held up his hand, deflecting the bullet off his palm. "Son of a…" cursed Sam as Jeremy rushed through the door. The Winchesters and Bela nearly reached the door at the same time, practically bumping into each other as they rushed through….only to find themselves now in an endless white hallway with green doors on either side that seemed to go on for eternity.

"Now where are we?" asked Bela

"Great. We're in the crappy Matrix sequel," grumbled Dean.

"C'mon. He couldn't have gotten far," said Sam. Instantly he headed for the nearest door and opened it to look inside. The room was dark but they could hear something. As they stepped inside, Bela swore it looked just like the hotel room they were sleeping in the real world. It might have been a little dark but it was more than obvious what the two individuals causing on the noise were doing on the bed.

"Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam!" cried one of the individuals. Wait a minute…that was Bela's voice. Dean headed towards a lamp and turned on the lights, revealing the two were Sam and Bela. The real Bela's jaw dropped as Dean quickly shut the lights back off immediately. The dream images of Sam and Bela kept on like nothing happened. The real Bela turned to a flabbergasted real Sam who looked like he wanted to crawl into a corner and die.

"Uh…I'm pretty sure he's not here," Sam quickly said then headed for the door. Dean's incredulous look matched Bela's as they followed him out.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" shouted Bela as they all got back into the infinity hallway. That was probably the strangest thing she had ever seen in her life. What in God's name was that? It certainly wasn't a memory that was for sure. Sam looked like he wanted to melt with the way Bela was glaring at him.

"Wait a minute. Bela was the one you were dreaming about?" Dean asked.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Bela.

"Sammy here was having quite the catnap just before you showed up a few days ago. He had so much drool on his hands I thought he was going to drown," chuckled Dean so seemed to think this was hilarious. Bela didn't share his sense of humor. The thought of Sam, the awkward too nice and too tall Winchester brother, touching Bela like that infuriated her.

"Bela look I am so sorry," Sam tried to say before Bela brushed past him to check another dark room. Instantly she shut the door as the sound of a Xenomorph shrieked inside.

"Next," Bela muttered. The three worked their way down the hallway, checking each room which either completely confusing like a bunch of children playing soccer or very intimate like Bela having recreating a certain dream sequence with George Clooney from Out of Sight. Some were more enjoyable thought like when Bela thought she saw Dean at Miami Beach wearing only trunks. Others thankfully she managed to close before the boys could see inside of them like one with her talking to Crowley.

"These rooms aren't memories," stated Sam. "Well they kinda are but more like memories of dreams."

"This is way too awkward," complained Dean as he opened another door. Inside they could make out two figures on a bed making various sounds of pleasure. Instantly Bela glared at Sam again. "Damn Sammy how many times did you have that dream?" Dean laughed.

"Dean! Dean! Dean! Dean!" Bela's voice echoed inside the room. Apparently this wasn't one of Sam's dreams.

Dean's smiled quickly faded as Bela turned her attention to him. "What? I can't control what I dream," he protested. Bela couldn't believe she was stuck working with these two oversized immature prats. It was like dealing with a bunch of prepubescent children.

"Oh don't worry about it Dean. I just enjoy being a sex object for the Winchesters," she muttered.

"C'mon Bela that's not fair," said Dean as she moved past him to check another room. No sooner did Bela open the door then a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her inside.

(I can't believe this chapter ended up being this long but I crammed in so many ideas that I need to turn this into a two parter. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)


	5. Dream a Little Dream of Me (part 2)

(A few things I forgot to address last chapter. I changed Jeremy Frost into a horror film fanatic because in the show he was possibly the most forgettable villain in the entire series. I made this into a two parter because the last chapter was long enough.)

"Bela!" Dean shouted as she was pulled inside a room and the door slammed shut. Dean grabbed the handle but it was locked. He tried kicking it down but that wasn't working either. In his panic, he forgot that he was in a dream and conjured himself a crowbar.

"Dean!" Sam shouted behind him. He turned to see Jeremy standing a few doors down in the hallways with a smirk on his face. With a movement of his hand, Dean found himself flying through the air and crashed into a door. It opened from the impact and Dean rolled right inside. He could hear the door slam shut behind him as he lay on the floor moaning in pain. Forcing himself up, he turned around to see the door was just gone. Replaced by a brick wall. "Son of a bitch!"

"Dean!" a familiar voice shouted behind him. Dean was horrified as he turned to see it was exactly who it sounded like. Standing in the middle of the hotel room was John Winchester, Dean's father. "What have you done?" he demanded.

* * *

"Just the two of us now," Jeremy mocked Sam in open hallways. "Let's take this outside." With a snap of his fingers, the whole hallway began to shift and change back into the street of the empty city they all started in. It was unnerving to Sam to see just how powerful Jeremy was. While Dean, Bela, and Sam were just starting to conjure things up, Jeremy was changing entire landscapes. If that wasn't bad enough, Sam was going to have to face him alone.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to have this kind of power? I was a nobody my entire life. My dad smashed a baseball bat over my head because he didn't win the lottery. My mother always blamed me for antagonizing him. Being alive antagonized him!" Jeremey snapped. Sam let him rant on while he tried to think of something to do. "Even after he died I still felt helpless. I was pushed around at school, my minimum wage part time jobs, I could barely get financial aid to pay my tuition. On top of all that, I haven't dreamed since I was ten. It was the one thing I could escape my hell into something better if only for a while and my son of a bitch father took that from me too."

"So what this is all payback for you because your life sucks you psycho?" spat Sam.

"Damn right it is! People in power just love pushing the plebs beneath them just for fun. Well guess who has the power now?" laughed Jeremy.

"People like Dr. Greg? The man helps you dream once again and you kill him?" asked Sam.

"He took the plant away from me! I pleaded with him to let me keep taking it but he wouldn't listen. All he had to do was just give me the ones he grew and I would have left him alone. I even told him to try the plant himself and enjoy like I did but he kept spouting on about how people shouldn't have this kind of power. So like any annoying bug I squashed him. Literally, in his dream I killed him by dropping a building on top of him," laughed Jeremy.

"Yeah well we're not going to be so easy," said Sam. He summoned a P90 machine gun into his hands and fired away. The concrete on the sidewalk in front of Jeremy shot up and harmlessly blocked all the bullets. The gun suddenly disappeared from Sam's hands. Apparently Jeremy could manipulate the dream world better than he could.

* * *

Bela regained consciousness on a wooden floor. At first she didn't want to get up with how bad her headache was until she remembered getting yanked through that door in the hallway with the Winchesters. She sprang to her feet to see she was in some kind of bedroom that seemed familiar. There were no pictures on the red wallpaper but the bed and nearby desk with a mirror looked like…oh God. It was Bela's room when she was a child. The room where her father…

A knock on the door startled her. The knob turned and slowly opened to reveal her father with that same look he had whenever he came into her room. "Hey princess," he smiled at her.

* * *

"I asked you a question Dean now answer me boy," John demanded. Dean knew this was a dream and something probably conjured up by Jeremy but damn it was convincing. The thought that anything, even something in a dream that impersonation his father was almost infuriating. Dean was sure to make Jeremy die a little more painful for this.

"Let's get one thing straight here. You're not my dad. Hell you're not even real. All I have to do is snap my finger and you go poof," replied Dean before snapping his fingers. Strangely enough, John was still standing there like nothing happened. Dean willed him to disappear but it obviously didn't work. Did not try hard enough? He tried again but it was the same result.

"I'm not going anywhere Dean and neither are you," John said firmly, revealing he was holding a sawed-off double barrel shotgun.

* * *

"You talk like you three are some A-Team that has a chance. You, Dean, and Abby are so messed up in the head it's wonder you're able to accomplish anything," Jeremy laughed and enjoyed the look of confusion on Sam's face. "Oh that's right you didn't know Bela's real name did you? Turns out if you take enough of the dream root, you can do more than just manipulate people's dreams. You can access their memories as well. It's kinda weird though. You have to be in their dreams for you to know everything because the moment you wake up, it's like the information just disappear from your brain. But I'm getting stronger. Now I can access the memories of more than just the dreamer I'm in but the people who are dream walking too."

Sam was getting more and more nervous as the conversation went on. He was trying to think of something or anything that could but he was drawing a blank. Jeremy strolled calmly towards a nearby building. "All those people who thought they could step on me. My classmates, my teachers, my employers, soon enough I'm going to show them what a real god can do."

"So that's what this is all about? Daddy made you felt insecure about your manhood and now you take it out on everyone else? I take it all back. You're not a psycho. You're just pathetic," spat Sam.

Jeremy glared at him with pure anger in his eyes. "Timber," he replied. He tapped a point on the wall of the building he was next to. Within seconds, cracks spread out from where he touched all along the entire structure. Then it started teetering over in Sam's direction. Sam took off running towards a nearby alley as the building came crashing down. A cloud of dust and plaster from the resulting collapse enveloped him into total darkness.

* * *

Bela backed up into a corner. Memories of this nightmare came flashing back. At first Father would touch her shoulder a little too long then he started to touch her leg and then other places. Bela thought it couldn't get any worse but it did. The things she endured and no one believed her. Bela told her mother but she only slapped her, yelling at her not to lie about her father like that. If the maids knew or had a clue, they certainly didn't say anything. Bela even once ran away and the officer who later picked up didn't believe her when he brought her back. That was when she knew that nobody was going to help her. At least until the demon showed up but that was only trading one hell for another.

"Sweetheart don't be like that. It's not like we haven't done this before," Father told her as he stepped closer.

"You're not real. You're dead," Bela quivered.

"Death is nothing but a transition of the soul from one plane to another. And we both know where yours' is going," Father smiled. Bela looked around for any possible way out but there wasn't even a door anymore, just a bricked up wall where it was supposed to be. "It really wasn't my fault princess. A man has needs and sometimes the urges get too much to handle. You were so pretty when you were growing up. I tried to fight it but it just got worse the older you got. Eventually I just couldn't help myself but it wasn't that bad. It didn't feel wrong for me so it couldn't have been so bad for you."

The thought of this bastard blaming her for his own sick fantasies made Bela want to kill him again. Father took another step closer. "If you'd just wait I would have gotten bored of you. In a couple of years, you would have been too old for me but you just couldn't. Now you're going to hell and you can be sure I'm waiting for you." He moved closer and closer until he was inches away from Bela and yet she was too terrified to move.

Father leaned closer and whispered into her, "Why are you shaking? You're too old for me." The way he said it only infuriated Bela even more. "All you had to do was wait a few years then I would have moved on. Why couldn't you just wait? If you just had a little patience then you wouldn't be going to hell."

"You're right. I shouldn't have made that deal," Bela whispered. Then suddenly lashed out, kneeing her Father in the groin then grabbing his head and slamming it into the wall. The impact sent him collapsing to the floor. Bela grabbed a nearby metal lamp and screamed, "I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU MYSELF!" She hit him over the head again and again and again. Bela didn't know how many time she hit him but she finally stopped when she realized her father's head had become a bloody unrecognizable stump.

Her old clock started buzzing an alarm, just like it did to wake up to school. Bela turned to see the hour was set at midnight. A blood curdling dog howl replaced the alarm then a low growl. A massive black furred red-eyed Doberman pinscher stepped through the wall like a ghost, its lips dripping with blood. A Hellhound.

* * *

"I gave my life so that you could live," said John. "Remember what I told you back in the hospital before I died? I said only Sammy matters now. That was your only priority soldier. To keep your little brother safe and you couldn't do that could you? You let him die and then you ran to make a deal to bring him back. Who's going to look after him when you're gone? Bobby?"

"Shut up," growled Dean.

"I should have known you were useless. Everything you own is what I gave you and everything that you know is what I taught you. You were nothing but my attack dog that barked and attacked on command. It's Sammy I really cared for. I only kept you around to keep him safe. I should have just let you die in that hospital. At least if I was alive I would have kept Sam safe," continued John.

"SON OF A BITCH!" shouted Dean, completely losing it. He grabbed John and shoved into a desk, knocking the shotgun from the illusion's hands. "Keep Sammy safe? You were always running around killing monsters or ghosts or whatever! I was the one who protecting Sam! I was the one who tucked him in at night and hugged him whenever he cried out for you! You cared more about killing something then you did being a father!" Dean shouted before unloading a series of right hands into John's face.

"All that crap you unloaded on me about protecting Sammy! That was your job not mine! I didn't deserve the crap you put on me and I don't deserve to go to hell," screamed Dean as he grabbed the shotgun on the ground and blasted two rounds into John's chest. The illusion slumped on the ground, lifeless as he closed his eyes. Dean slumped against the wall, the whole rant seemed to have lift a burden from him.

Suddenly John was on his feet and grabbed him by the neck, pinning him against the wall. His eyes were now shining gold, exactly the same when Azazel possessed him. "How does it feel to finally unload on your old man Dean? I find killing somebody just because you feel enjoy it to be extremely liberating," he laughed.

"You're not real," gasped Dean.

"Maybe not but I'm what you're going to turn into after Hell's done with you. I wonder what color eyes you'll have? I really hope they'll be gold because the irony would be sweeter than honey. Can you imagine after all the demons you killed and exorcised that you end up becoming the King of Hell itself? Congratulations kiddo. You're going to become the very thing that you've been hunting your whole life," mocked Azazel.

* * *

Sam kept running through endless alleyways with Jeremy's laughter following him everywhere he went. "One two guess who's coming for you? Three four you can't lock the doors," echoed all around him. Suddenly he fell forward when his legs started to sink. Sam looked at his feet to see they were sinking right through the cement. Jeremy appeared down the alleyway, dressed in a fedora and red and green sweater. On his hand on a glove with knives attached to the fingers.

"Nightmare on Elm Street is my favorite movie. I've been waiting to do this ever since I learned how to use the dream root," said Jeremy. He moved closer as he slide the knifes on the wall, creaking and moaning. "I've got a laundry list of people to do this to. So you'll have to forgive me if I practice a few things on you."

"You don't have to do this Jeremy," Sam tried to plead with him.

"Big tough begging for his life? That's rich," laughed Jeremy.

"I'm not begging for my life. I was begging for your's," Sam replied with a look in his eye.

"JEREMY!" someone shouted behind Sam's attacker. Jeremy turned to see his long dead father storming up to him. The so called god's sadistic and confident face turned to pure dread.

"Dad?" gulped Jeremy.

"You answer me when I'm calling you boy!" the father shouted. Jeremy suddenly lunged forward and stabbed his father with his Freddy Krueger glove. The old man spat out blood and dropped to the ground lifeless.

Jeremy started laughing triumphantly. "Is that the best you can do?" he turned back to Sam.

"Not even close," Sam whispered.

"JEREMY! JEREMY! JEREMY!" echoed through the alleyway. One by one, dozens of duplicates of Jeremy's fathers emerged from the shadows.

Jeremy's smile faded once more. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!" he shouted at each one. The knives on his gloves extended unnaturally and he sliced half of the duplicates in half with a single swipe. But that was more than enough time for Sam to finally free himself from the concrete. His own ability to manipulate the dream world around him was increasing by the second but he didn't need it for what he did next.

"You see that! I'm god here," a distracted Jeremy shouted after he finished off the last off his father's copies. Sam crept up behind him and placed both hand around his head before twisting. The so called god's neck snapped just as easily in the dream world as it would in the real one. Jeremy dropped to the pavement lifeless.

* * *

Bobby Singer paced back and forth in the hotel room impatiently. He hated having to sit on the sidelines while the kids were the ones fighting to save him. He wasn't surprised when Sam and Dean agreed with Bela's plan but what did surprise him was that Bela was going as well. Bobby didn't know her very well but he knew her reputation. From what other hunters had said about her, Bela wouldn't throw you a lifeline even if you were drowning in a backyard pool. Maybe she felt she owed the boys after they saved her life but that didn't really fit with her narcissistic reputation.

The three all suddenly sprung from their beds awake. Dean and Bela were both sweating and shaking while Sam seemed rather calm. "Are you three okay?" Bobby asked them. One by one they slowly nodded and for the first time in two days he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jeremy's not going to be a problem anymore," Sam spoke up.

"Thank god for that," sighed Bela.

"You have excellent timing Sammy," agreed Dean.

* * *

The next morning everyone understandably overslept. After a nice long shower, Dean headed to Bela's room to talk. After getting back from Wonderland, everyone pretty much just headed back to their rooms. Everyone was so tired, it was pretty much decided that whatever needed to be said had be done after a good night's sleep. Before Dean could even knock, Bela's door suddenly opened and Sam was shoved out. "Leave," Dean could hear Bela's angry voice before the door slammed shut. Sam turned to see his older brother standing right next to him giving him a look.

"I was just apologizing," Sam threw up his hands.

"Well to be fair she did see some parts of you that I never wanted to see either," Dean mocked him. Sam glared at him and stormed off. Dean turned back to the door and knocked.

"Go away Sam," Bela shouted inside her room.

"Good thing I'm not him," chuckled Dean.

A second later, Bela opened the door but she didn't seem happy to see him. "What do you want and it better not be an apology. I just had to endure Sam's version of one," she demanded.

"C'mon how bad could he be at saying he's sorry?" asked Dean.

"I wished that was it. He kept on saying how sorry he was for every little individual thing and he was quite detailed," fumed Bela. Okay that had to be a little annoying.

"Well I'll not here to apologize," smiled Dean.

"Good for you," Bela replied then slammed the door shut on him. Rather than get irritated, Dean simply knocked on the door again. Bela reopened the door and seemed even more irritated. "Don't you Winchesters take a hint?" she grumbled.

"Not really. I want to talk and I'm not leaving until you let me. You can go ahead and shut the door on me again but I should warn you I know to knock on a door to the tune of Enter Sandman," smiled Dean.

An annoyed Bela opened the door and moved aside to let him in. "Make it quick Dean," she said after he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

"I just want to start by saying that you are the strangest person I have ever met," said Dean. "You act like some selfish con artist who doesn't care about anyone that gets in your way. Kinda like how you always steal thing from us. Then you do something like risking your neck to help us with Gordon or getting that dream plant and helping us save Bobby. I just want to know why."

"It's simple Dean. You're useful," answered Bela. Dean gave her a disbelieving look. "Contrary to popular belief, not everyone woman wants you around because your abs."

"When did you see my abs?" frowned Dean.

"In your dream about me," Bela answered.

"Oh," moaned Dean then his eyes perked up. "Did you like them?" Bela tried to suppress a laugh but failed. "That's a yes," smirked Dean, feeling quite pleased with himself. It was probably the first time he ever managed to get underneath that hard exterior of her's and see just a little something of the real her.

"Don't flatter yourself," smiled Bela.

"Admit Bela. You took just a closer look at that dream of mine didn't you?" chuckled Dean.

"Dean," Bela warned him but still had that slight smirk on her face.

"Okay okay," Dean held up his hands and changed the topic. "Back to my original point. You keep sticking your neck out for us and I just wanted you to know that anytime you need help for anything, you just let me know."

"Oh you weren't going to help me if I got in trouble before all of this?" joked Bela.

"Yeah but I just wanted you to know that if you need anything and I mean anything at all, call me. Even if it's just to talk," said Dean, getting serious.

"That's what psychiatrists are for," sighed Bela.

"Yeah well I'm much cheaper and better looking," smiled Dean.

"Well you're right about the cheap part," mocked Bela. The two of them genuinely smiled for a moment and for once Dean almost forgot about his deadline approaching. All this running around and killing monsters and demons the past few months were mostly just a distraction from what was inevitable. Dean always played the fearless hero around his brother but deep down he was terrified. The thought of what those son of bitches downstairs were going to do to him gave him a lot of sleepless nights. And yet somehow this con artist thief seemed to take his mind off his worries for once. Even seeing Lisa Braeden again didn't do this.

"We're joining Bobby for lunch at a diner down the corner. Care to tag along? My treat," offered Dean.

Bela actually hesitated for a moment, something Dean also had never seen before from her. She seemed like she was actually contemplating it. "Sorry but I'll be leaving shortly. There's something I have to finish," Bela finally answered.

Dean didn't argue with her. "Alright," he said before heading towards the door. He stopped before leaving and asked, "Okay on a scale of one to ten how would you rate my abs?" He didn't get an answer. Bela simply opened the door and shoved him out. Dean felt quite pleased when he noticed the slight smile on her face as she shut the door.

"Is that a ten?" Dean chuckled.

* * *

Bela breathed a huge sigh of relief once she heard Dean walking down the hallway and leaned her head against the door. Dammit this was supposed to be so simple. Take the Colt and leave. That was the original plan but then Bela had to risk her life for Dean once again. It dawned on her why though up until this point she just didn't want to accept it. She liked him. She genuinely liked him. This was something that has never happened before. Bela had been in relationships before but they were always part of a job or for a specific reason. Once they weren't useful anymore, they'd never heard from her again. No one ever meant anything to her until now.

Why him? He was handsome but Bela had met plenty of men like that. It wasn't his bravery or loyalty because she met plenty of other hunters like that and she couldn't have cared less if they lived or died. Bela never cared about anyone else almost her entire life. So what was it with Dean Winchester that made him the one exception? This can't be happening now. Not when she was so close.

When Dean told her she could call him for anything, Bela was genuinely considering telling him the truth. He'd be pissed but at least he'd help. But what could of help would it be? Was he going to try and use the Colt to threaten the Crossroad Demon because Bela didn't think that was going to work. And even if he killed it, there was no guarantee she would get out of her contract. He'd probably try to his dying breath to protect from the hellhounds but that wouldn't do Bela much good. It would just be postponing the inevitable and that was the only reason she didn't tell Dean the truth.

She headed towards the window and glanced out, waiting for the Winchesters to leave with Bobby. Once they were gone, Bela would finish what she started. Breaking into the safe were the boys kept it would be easy. Living with herself afterwards would be the hard part.

* * *

Dean and Sam were starting to pack up when Bobby entered their room. After a nice lunch, the three were about to hit the road. Dean noticed Bela's car was gone by the time they got back. Maybe she would call him but she didn't seem the type to open up about herself. Dean was the same way but he felt like he had to try.

"A security guard found Jeremy's body in a warehouse in Steubenville, Ohio," Bobby informed them.

"Well then I guess that's that," shrugged Sam.

"Good riddance," muttered Dean as he headed to the safe and entered the combination. He was about to grab the Colt but there was a slight problem. The safe was empty. "Hey Sam did you take the Colt?"

"No. It isn't there?" answered Sam.

"Bobby did you tou…." Dean was about to ask but then he realized everything.

"What?" demanded Bobby.

"Bela," Dean sighed as he slammed the safe shut. Bela stole something from them every time the Winchesters saw her so why the hell was Dean surprised yet again? To think that Dean was ready to open up to her and during that whole conversation, Bela was just bidding her time to grab the Colt.

"Bela stole the Colt?!" shouted Sam.

"Damn it boys!" snapped Bobby.

"Pack your crap. We're gonna hunt the bitch down," Dean told Sam.

(That last conversation with Dean and Bela took me forever to get down. Writing the action scenes were easy but the dialogue between them was hard. Next chapter is going to be very different. It's not going to focus on the Winchesters or Bela but rather what everyone's favorite angel was up to before the whole apocalypse got started.)


	6. Jus In Bello

**Monument, Colorado**

For two thousand years, Castiel had observed from the shadows. He had seen civilizations rise and crumble, wars raging across nearly every continent, deeds of great kindness and atrocities beyond imagination. Yet for all the endless things Castiel had witness, nothing caught his interest more than two ordinary humans by the names of Dean and Sam Winchester. They had lost both their parents to Lucifer's right hand Azazel and Castiel wanted to know why. The demon had been his priority target for millennia but he was cautious and didn't share his plans with any of his underlings.

The angel continued to watch him even when he managed to open a hell's gate and unleash hundreds of demons into the world. He could have stopped it but Michael's command was clear and he always spoke for God. No angel was to interact with the physical world under any circumstances and Castiel and his garrison had followed their orders. But after millennia of waiting, they were starting to lose faith and patience. Some believed the archangels and the rest of their brethren in heaven were never going to return. But Castiel kept his faith and continued his duty.

Azazel pulled out the Colt, a special gun that somehow could kill a demon, and was ready to use the final bullet on Dean. Then John Winchester's spirit emerged through the hell's gate and seized the demon, pulling him out of his vessel. But a spirit was no real threat to a demon of Azazel's power. He easily wrestled John away and return to his vessel. But then the unthinkable happened, Dean Winchester used the Colt to shoot Azazel. Lucifer's right hand was killed at the hands of an ordinary human. To say that Castiel was surprised was an understatement.

Since then the angel followed the two boys around, believing that they were important. Especially Sam Winchester, Azazel wanted him alive for something important and Castiel doubted just because he was dead meant his plan was completely ruined. So he observed their adventures, sometimes amused and more often than not frustrated by the Winchesters naiveté. The Crossroads Demon gave Dean a year for bringing his younger brother back to life. It was obvious the demon wanted his soul and quickly for some reason but Dean made the deal anyways. They tried to find a way out of it but the brothers were unsuccessful. It didn't help that they were receiving aid from a demon named Ruby. Why they continued to work with it Castiel didn't understand nor why they kept working with another human named Abigail Grayson or Bela Talbot as she called herself now.

She was the definition of a sinner. Guilty of thievery, murder, patricide, and matricide among many other things. Castiel hadn't witnessed Dean's first encounter with her but for some reason, the human seemed smitten with her. After two millennia, the angel still found human relationships to be beyond his understanding. Bela may have helped them but she also stole from them as well. And now she's stolen the Colt to try and undue the greatest mistake she ever made in her life. In doing so Bela made yet another mistake by alienating the last two people who she could go to for help.

The Winchesters had tracked her down to a hotel in a small town named Monument. They picked the lock and quietly entered the room. Castiel already knew Bela was long gone, having watched her leave. The woman found out the Winchesters were closing in on her and quickly left. The angel waited for the two hunters to show up and see what they would do. Bela had left newspaper clippings all over the walls, each referring to a suspicious death or unusual event. Dean and Sam checked around but found nothing useful. Then they turned their attention to the clippings.

* * *

"Bela's been keeping herself busy," commented Dean as he took a closer look. They scanned through several while Castiel watched them. He already knew what this was all was but it wasn't like he could tell the Winchesters anything so he waited.

"Dean these are cases. Possible angry spirit in Cheyanne, Wyoming. A vampire case in Denver, a Rakshasa in Topeka, Kansas. She sure did her homework," stated Sam.

"For someone who thumbs her nose down on hunters she certainly has the chops for it. The question is why," replied Dean.

Just then the hotel room phone rang, sitting on the bed. The brothers exchanged a look then Dean walked over and picked up the handset. He didn't say a word as he put it up to his ear. "Dean? Sweetie are you there?" asked Bela in that annoying cheerful voice of her's. Judging from the background noise, she was driving in her car.

Dean sighed, "Where are you?"

"Two states away by now," answered Bela.

"Where?" snapped Dean.

"Where's our usual quippy banter? I miss it," chuckled Bela.

"I want it back Bela. Now," demanded Dean.

"Your little pistol? Sorry that was the price for helping you save Bobby back in Pittsburgh," Bela replied.

"Oh I don't think so," Dean said.

"Well we agree on something. You don't think," laughed Bela. That seemed to irritate the elder Winchester even further.

"You have any idea how many people are going to die if you do this?" asked Dean.

"What exactly is it that you think I plan to do with it?" asked Bela.

"Take the only weapon we have against an army of demons and sell it to the highest bidder," Dean answered.

"You know nothing about me," stated Bela.

"I know I'm gonna stop you and by the way we paid a little visit to your apartment in Queens. We were a bit clumsy and smashed up a few things," chuckled Dean.

"First of all everything's insured. Second those are tough words for someone who can't find me," retorted Bela

"Oh I'll find you sweetheart. You know why? Because I have absolutely nothing better to do then to track you down," shot back Dean.

"That's where you're wrong. You're about to be quite occupied. Do you know an Agent Henrickson?" replied Bela. Dean threw a concerned look at Sam. "He has quite the hard-on for the two of you or so I'm told. Someone might have called him earlier and told him where you two might be." Dean was half ready to rush out the door until Bela started laughing. "Relax darling I was only kidding."

"Is that your way of warning me?" fumed Dean.

"No but I wasn't lying about you being busy. You said you have nothing better to do and now you do. Take a look at my little present I left you on the wall. Enough cases to keep you occupied for a month or two. Wouldn't want you to get rusty," said Bela.

"We know other hunters Bela. We simply call them up and hand these cases off to them," Dean said.

"You could but you won't. You're not the kind of person who let's other people get their hands dirty for you," chuckled Bela.

"Fine I'll make you deal!" shouted Dean, losing his patience. "Give me the Colt and I'll let you have whatever you want out of my dad's warehouse." Sam threw him a look but his older brother shot him a look to shut him up. He was desperate and running out of time.

"No deal. Sorry Dean but it's the Colt I need," answered Bela.

"Need for what?" demanded Dean.

"Nothing you need to worry about sweetie. Now go make some new friends or cut their heads off. Whatever makes you happy," Bela said before hanging up.

"Son of a bitch," Dean cursed underneath his breath before hanging up.

* * *

Castiel watched the Winchesters argue. Sam wanted to keep going after Bela while Dean wanted to head to the nearest case. Both of them had noble intentions but they were at a crossroads.

"Still following around those two mudfish?" a voice spoke Castiel. He turned to see his brother and comrade in arms Balthazar. Unlike most of the rest of the garrison on Earth, Balthazar seemed to enjoy his time here. Rather than observing demonic activity or important events, the angel would go into movie theaters or watch sports games or television or many other earthly pleasures that Castiel didn't understand the appeal to.

"They are important Balthazar," answered Castiel.

"What the oversized man child with rebellious daddy issues? The dumb one who's in love with that ugly looking car of his? C'mon Cas I know you're all about faith but this is a stretch ever for you," said Balthazar.

"They killed Azazel. Lucifer's main general," replied Castiel.

"They got lucky," Balthazar annoyingly sighed.

"There's no such thing as luck," stated Castiel.

"And there's no such thing as two hunters actually making a difference in the world. Yeah they killed Azazel but that only leaves the door open for Lilith to fill in the void and you know she's more than capable of matching the whole torture and murder quota," Balthazar said.

"Speaking of which you should be helping the others track Lilith down," Castiel said.

"And where should I start with that? I can't torture any demon for any information and anyone I follow hasn't led me anywhere good. Instead I'm forced to watch them kill human after human. Sadly that's still not as bad as watching Titanic," shrugged Balthazar. He had a strange hatred of that human movie.

"We have an assignment to observe and report once our brothers and sisters in heaven return," Castiel glared at his brother.

"They're never coming back Cas," sighed Balthazar. "Face it. Michael and the others don't want to come back to this cesspool and we're never leaving. So we might as well enjoy it. C'mon someone has Casa Erotica playing in one of the rooms here. Now that is a cinematic masterpiece."

"We are warriors of God Balthazar!" shouted Castiel. The whole room shook from his fury. The Winchesters glanced around confused than simply got back to their argument once it subsided. "And we will obey our orders," continued Castiel in a firm tone.

"Two millennia brother and not a single word from Senior Management! We've been abandoned!" snapped Balthazar.

"Have faith," Castiel tried to calm the situation.

"Funny. That's what Anna always said," retorted Balthazar. Their former commander fell to Earth to take a human form. She disobeyed Michael's orders to not get involved and for an angel, disobedience was the worst sin they could commit. Castiel and the rest of the garrison weren't able to track her down but Uriel managed to find her grace and secure it. They may not be able to find her but Anna won't be able to regain her powers. She'll be almost as frail as a normal human being. Balthazar mentioning her name was as the humans put it pouring salt into an open wound.

"We are not Anna," snapped Castiel.

"Sorry brother I know that's a touché subject for you but I'm only trying to illustrate a point for you. Our own commander went AWOL. You know the angel who was supposed to keep us in line. If she's lost faith in returning home, why should any of us hold out any hope?" asked Balthazar.

"Because hope is what's keeping me going brother. Hope that one day my seemingless observations will one day be useful and without that then I truly am nothing," answered Castiel.

"Well nothing is such a strong word Cas. A bore yes and have an angel blade stuck up your celestial ass but not nothing," chuckled Balthazar. Castiel appreciated his brother's words even if they were sarcastic. "Well suit yourself. I'll go search a local strip bar for any demons. Those pussing sores hate humans but strangely enough seemed to enjoy them when they're nude. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part."

Balthazar disappeared, leaving Castiel to continue observing the Winchesters. He may not be able to help them but he would keep an eye on them all the same. Maybe one day that will change. Truthfully, Castiel hoped that day never comes. When the angels return, it would be a sure sign that the apocalypse was at hand.

(A short chapter I know but I needed to address the whole Jus In Bello episode and I wanted Agent Henriksen alive to meet angels eventually. Next chapter will be longer and more relevant as Bela's deal with Crowley turns sour and her time runs out.)


	7. Time is on My Side

**Rochester, New York**

Seventy-two hours. That's all the time Bela Talbot had left in this life if that damned Crowley doesn't show up. After snatching the Colt from the Winchesters, Bela tried for months to contact the crossroad demon but nothing worked. She tried everything from conjuring rituals to actually summoning another crossroads demon just to pass on a message that she had what Crowley wanted. Nothing worked as if the demon wasn't interested anymore and didn't have the courtesy to tell her. Maybe he wanted her desperate or maybe he was just screwing with her for fun. That was a possibly Bela started to believe more and more as the weeks went by.

She moved from hotel room to motel room, temporary apartments, and safe houses all over the country to stay one step ahead of Dean and Sam. The brothers proved to be a lot better at tracking her then Bela cared to admit so she did a little homework and left them a laundry list of hunting jobs on a motel wall. Knowing Dean he was probably insisting they handle each and every one of them before trying to pick up Bela's trail again. She didn't need to get rid of them, just slow them down long enough to find that damned demon and close the deal. Eventually Bela lost her patience and managed to trap a demon to pass on a message to Crowley. Call her for a meeting within twenty-four hours or she would take the Colt back to the Winchesters. An hour after that, Crowley called her up to set up a meeting.

Bela set the time and place, ensuring she could fill a warehouse full of wards. The windows were salted and Bela would be surrounded by Devil's traps. She wasn't going to take any chances with this. Crowley would only be able to step a few feet inside and nothing else. After she was certain the deal was genuine and the demon was alone, Bela would move close enough for the Crossroad Kiss. An unfortunate part but she was almost willing to do anything at this point.

The King of the Crossroads wasn't even a second late. He stepped inside the warehouse in the same business suit from the dream, glancing around at Bela's handiwork on the floor and windows. "You certainly tidied the place up for our first date luv. Love the window dressings," Crowley commented.

"Well enjoy them because it's our only date," retorted Bela. She pulled out the Colt from her jacket. "One demon killing antique as requested."

"You're more reliable than Amazon," chuckled Crowley. Bela took a deep breath and then slowly approached the demon. Only one way to seal a deal with a demon and that was a kiss. Just one kiss and then she was free. Still the thought of locking lips with a demon made Bela's skin crawl. "Oh don't be so discriminative. I'll have you know I'm considered to be quite a catch. Hell's sexiest bachelor for two centuries," he joked.

Bela made sure she could still be standing in a Devil Trap's when they do the deed and kept the Colt ready with one hand and a knife coated in holy salt water. When they were finally face to face, Bela groaned then leaned forward. The two locked lips, making her want to vomit. She tried imagining kissing someone else like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, or Dean Winchester. After a few seconds, Crowley wasn't pulling away so Bela shoved him off. "Perv," she growled.

"I prefer sadistic mass murdering psychopath myself," laughed Crowley. This demon certainly enjoyed his wisecracks.

"Whatever makes you feel better William Wallace," muttered Bela. She held out the Colt which Crowley almost immediately snatched out of her hands. "You've got your precious pistol now rip up the lease."

"I would love to but there's a slight complication," Crowley explained. "You see I may be the King of the Crossroads but technically I don't own any of the contracts. My boss Lilith does." Bela's heart skipped a beat. Still she wasn't surprised by any of this. Demons weren't exactly known for releasing contracts so Bela had a little insurance prepped.

"Big mistake," she said before pressing a button to a garage opener in her jacket. It sent a signal to drop a tarp in front of the door Crowley came in. The demon turned to see it had a Devil's Trap spray-painted onto it. Combined with the other wards and devil traps Bela had surrounding the entrance, Crowley was now officially trapped. "You didn't think I was just going to take you at your word?"

Crowley mockingly clapped, "Well someone give little Miss Muffat a girl's scout badge. But you think I became the King of the Crossroads by being stupid?" He turned to the windows and shouted, "Lite 'em up boys!"

Suddenly the windows around the warehouse shattered as Molotov cocktails were hurled inside, setting the floor ablaze. Within seconds Bela was trapped inside the burning building along with Crowley. Flames enveloped the Devil's Trap tarp, incinerating it within moments. "You've got two choices sweetheart. You can either be extra crispy or you can step outside with me and hear my offer," Crowley smirked before he snapped his fingers. The fire blocking the door was extinguished as the demon calming walked out. Seeing no choice, Bela quickly followed.

The minute she ran outside, Bela was hurled by some unseen force into the brick wall of the neighboring building and pinned against it. Crowley strolled up to her, admiring the Colt as he did. "Think of handing this over as a donation to Lilith. And now that you've gotten on her good side, she's the one willing to offer you a real deal," he spoke.

"We did have a deal!" cried Bela, nearly in tears.

"Yes we did as in me and you. Not Lilith and she's the one who hold your contract. Now shut up and listen princess because you have no idea how lucky you are to be getting an offer like this. Kill Sam Winchester and we'll call it even," replied Crowley.

"What?" frowned Bela.

"Kill the Sasquatch of the Hardy boys and you get off the Highway to Hell. Do I have to write it down for you?" muttered Crowley.

"If you want them dead then go do it yourself," snapped Bela.

"Well two things. One, demons have been trying that for years and accomplished nothing. The Winchesters for whatever reason always seem to let their guard down around you so naturally you're the perfect assassin for this job. And two, I want Sam not Dean," spoke Crowley.

"Why?" demanded Bela.

"Because my pups are going to make a chew toy out of him soon enough," answered the demon. Bela couldn't believe it. Dean had made a deal with a Crossroads Demon? But this was Dean Winchester, the famous kill demons first and ask questions later hunter. What possibly made him so stupid as to sell his soul?

"So what do you say lass?" Crowley asked

Bela answered him by spitting in his face. "Go to hell!"

"I understand you're a little upset so I'll overlook that," Crowley said while pulling out a hanger chief and wiping his face off.

"Why should I even believe you?!" shouted Bela.

"Because you can't afford not to sweetheart," the demon smile before disappearing. Bela was suddenly released, collapsing to the ground in tears. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. She did what she was told to do. All this running around the country and staying one step ahead of the Winchesters for the past few months was all for nothing. Her betrayals and sacrifices were all meaningless and now those damned smokers wanted her to kill Sam. Could she even do that? Stealing the Colt from the Winchesters was one thing but murdering Dean's younger brother? Even if she did the deed, there was no guarantee Lilith would actually honor the agreement. Bela didn't for a second think they were actually going to just let her go. They were just stringing her along while she was useful then once they got what they wanted from her, they'd sick the hellhounds on her. No matter what she did, in three days Bela was dead and damned.

* * *

**Erie, Pennsylvania**

For the past few months, Dean had felt like he was running in a gerbil wheel. Constantly checking one false lead on Bela after another had taken its toll on his time and now he had only a few days left. Dean should have just kept hunting monsters and saving a few more lives before his time expired but Sam insisted on going on and Dean just didn't have it in him to refuse. He felt so damn guilty for what Sammy was enduring and how he was going to have to live with Dean suffering in Hell because of a deal to save him. It wasn't his fault just like it wasn't Dean's fault Dad made a deal to save him but that wouldn't take away the guilt. At least Sam would be alive and that's all that mattered to Dean.

And now they finally had a lead. Bobby called and said that a former hunter named Rufus Turner in Vermont sold Bela a bunch of things. She didn't get everything she wanted but when Rufus told her he needed time to get the rest, Bela bailed. The ex-hunter wasn't specific about what she bought from him because he had some bad history with Bobby. Dean thought it was all a waste of time until an hour later when Bobby called back and said he had something else. "Remember that friend I told you about in the Justice Department keeping tabs on Bela's accounts? I think we might have something."

"After all this time Bela's finally making a mistake?" Dean asked. She's been careful not to leave any kind of trail that could potentially lead back to her. The Winchesters found out about three of her accounts but for months she never touched them. Probably was using others they didn't know about.

"I don't know if mistake's the word to describe all of this. She emptied them all. Down to the last penny," answered Bobby.

"Any idea where the money's going to?"

"The accounts that we know about all transferred everything to a trust fund for a Jacob Foster. A nine year old in Warsaw, New York." said Bobby. The thought of Bela giving all her money to someone else seemed

"Any idea why Bela's suddenly becoming charitable for this particular kid?" asked Dean.

"Beats me but maybe you can ask him. I'll text you the address and see if I can convince Rufus to tell me what Bela bought from him," stated Bobby.

Sam was less than thrilled when Dean gave him the news. It turned out the current mysterious case they were on wasn't so mysterious to one of them. Something had been killing people and taking their organs. It wasn't a zombie or werewolf since the bodies had been cut out with a scalpel. Just after Dean just the calls from Bobby, Sam admitted he knew who was responsible for this. Doc Benton was a doctor in 1816 that apparently found a means to immortality and had been killing people for their organs for nearly two centuries. Dad fought this guy years ago and supposedly killed him by tearing his heart out. Apparently old Doc got himself a new one.

Dean was furious that Sam kept this to himself. They were supposed to be a team when hunting something. You can keep a secret about your personal life but not when it comes to a hunt. If that wasn't bad enough, Sam didn't even want to kill this guy. He wanted to find out what keeps Frankenstein ticking so he can use it on Dean. Sammy wanted to save Dean by turning him into the same monster as the doc. After exchanging a few heated words, Dean grabbed his keys and left. Sam had a point that Bela probably sold the Colt by now but Dean needed to be sure and he'd rather use the pistol to kill the impending Hellhounds then get turned into something out of a George Romero movie.

After a two hour ride, Dean arrived at Warsaw. The town was small and out of the way which begged the question who the hell was Jacob Foster and why was he so important to Bela? Maybe something happened to him and Bela felt responsible? That didn't exactly sound like the con artist thief Dean knew but then again that woman always did completely baffled him. One minute she would be saving his life and then the next stealing something from him.

The Fosters lived in a two story split level home near the outskirts of town. Nothing Dean saw around the lawn seemed suspicious or even that these people were loaded with cash. Of course he'd seen plenty of haunted houses that looked normal until you stepped inside to meet the tenants. Dressed in a business suit, Dean pulled out the fake FBI badge from his glove compartment and headed towards the front door. People rarely believe you were an FBI agent unless you were wearing a suit.

He knocked on the door and only had to wait a few seconds before it opened, revealing a young boy. He glanced up with green eyes and light brown hair that was almost familiar. "Hi there. Are your parents home?" smiled Dean.

The boy didn't even need to answer before a man in his mid-forties stepped up behind him. "Run along Jacob," he told the boy before turning his attention to Dean. "Can I help you?"

Dean pulled out his badge, "Agent James Hetfield FBI. Can we talk inside?" It was a good thing this guy wasn't a Metallica fan.

After being invited in, the man introduced himself as Jonathan Foster or Jon for short. His wife Emily seemed around the same age and was nice enough. Dean used a cover story about Jacob's name used in a trust fund and the agency believed it was a case of identity theft. From the look on their faces, they seemed somewhat nervous rather than confused. They definitely knew something.

"Identity theft? But the people we talked to about it said the account was completely legit," protested Jon.

So they actually knew about it. Dean wasn't expecting that. "So you know about it?" he asked.

"Not until a few years ago. I got a call from a hedge fund group who needed our signatures," explained Emily. "We thought it was a hoax but everyone we talked to from the bank to the Federal Trade Commission all said everything was alright."

"Do you know who set up the account in the first place?" Dean inquired.

"No," answered Jon though Emily's face said otherwise.

"Mrs. Foster is there something you want to share?" Dean spoke in an official no nonsense tone. Maybe that would intimate her enough into answering.

Emily checked around and then said, "I think its Jacob's mother."

"Jacob's adopted?" frowned Dean. Then it hit him. Jacob had the same green eyes and brown hair among other things. Put him next to Bela and you'd see the similarities. Suddenly everything was starting to make sense.

"Nothing else makes sense," nodded Emily.

"Have you ever actually met her?"

"No," Jon shook his head. "The adoption was confidential but if this woman has the kind of money she's been putting into the trust then I guess it's no surprise she found him."

"Actually I might have seen her as one of Jacob's soccer games yesterday. Everyone pretty much knows everyone there so this woman seemed out of place. I thought maybe she was a distant relative of the student's but I could have sworn she was looking at Jacob. I turned my back for a moment and then she was gone," admitted Emily.

Well this was certainly something Dean wasn't expecting. He thought maybe Jacob had been victimized by Bela in the past in some way and she established the trust out of guilt. Clearly he was way off. But if Bela had been at this soccer game then she might still be nearby. "Well if you know about the account then I guess it's not identify theft. Sorry to have wasted your time," Dean excused himself and left as quickly as he could.

Once he got back into the Impala and drove off, Dean immediately called Bobby. "Bela has a kid," he blurted out the second old man Fisher answered the phone.

"Our Bela a mother?" Bobby asked. He seemed as shocked as Dean was when he found out.

"The kid's adoptive mother thinks she saw Bela the other day which means she might still be in the area," Dean stated.

"Crap," sighed Bobby.

"What?" Dean asked, not liking the tone in Bobby's voice.

"I think I might know what's going on Dean. I managed to get Rufus to cough up some more details. He got a picture of her and sent it to some friend overseas. Turns out ears can be used to identify people over in Europe like fingerprints," explained Bobby.

"Ears?" frowned Dean.

"The method isn't exactly popular here in the states but it's a different story across the pond. Rufus told me Bela's whole life story. Her real name is Abigail Grayson. Born in 83 to Ian and Zoe Grayson. The family wasn't the Waltons but they were quite wealthy. First ten years of her life was completely uneventful then around eleven she got into all sorts of trouble. At first it was just shoplifting then it escalated to petty theft, grand theft auto, breaking and entering. By age 12 Abby was quite the little criminal mastermind. Never spent a night in jail though thanks to her family's connections and wealth. Then when she was 14, her parents died in a car accident. Police suspected somebody slashed the brake lines but they couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Abby goes on to inherit millions and then poof. Disappears without a trace. Almost a year later, she pops back up to empty her family's bank accounts and that was the last time anyone ever saw her," said Bobby.

"I thought you said you knew what was going on?" pointed out Dean.

"Pipe down ya idgit. I was getting to that," replied Bobby. "Rufus finally told me exactly what she bought from him. All of it was your typical anti-demon weaponry. Salt rounds, holy water, that kind of stuff. But the thing she wanted the most was devil's shoestring."

Devil's shoestring was only used for one thing. Keeping Hellhounds at bay. The draining of her bank accounts, seeing one of her son's soccer games, the ghost back at Sea Pines that wanted to kill her for spilling her family's blood, and now a devil's shoestring all meant one thing. Bela made a deal with a demon and her contract was almost up. No wonder she wanted the Colt. "When exactly were Bela's parents killed?" asked Dean.

"Almost ten years to the day. She's getting her affairs in order Dean," Bobby stated grimly.

* * *

Bela had been wondering around for hours, the whole time trying to keep herself from crying. She just didn't know what to do. She could be trying to track down this Lilith and find some way to force it to break the contract. But that was childish, Bela didn't have the time to track the demon down let alone trap it. She thought maybe introduced herself to Jacob but that was even more childish. He probably didn't even know she existed and what good would come out of telling him now. What would she tell him? Hi I'm your real mother and I'm about to die. Jacob was better off believing the Fosters were his real parents.

Bela didn't know what to do so she was just kept walking, enjoying the last nice summer day she'd ever know. The feel of the sun on her skin, the gentle breeze on her hair, so many things you take for granted until you realize you were about to lose them. Bela sat on a bench and watched the sun set. Strange how beautiful it was, almost poetic. Finally Bela got up and headed back to her motel room. She wasn't sure what she was going to accomplish by holding the Hellhounds off for a time but Bela refused to die on the time the demons chose for her. Maybe she could find a way to contact the Winchesters and ask for their help? What would be the point? They couldn't help her now anyways.

As she walked back, the images she saw got worse. They started the day before but now they were steadily increasing. People's faces morphed into monsters, trees shifted into bony hands grasping for her, dogs turned into hellhounds snapping at her. Nothing but illusions. Bela knew they couldn't hurt her. She had until midnight before the real danger came and she wasn't going to waste what little time she had left cowering in a corner. Bela wanted to experience the world one last time.

It was dark by the time she got back. Bela thought about maybe watching Jon Stewart of the Daily Show one last time when as she entered her room when suddenly something in the dark came up and shoved up against the wall. Bela almost screamed, thinking it was a hellhound but quickly realized who it was. Dean Winchester with a gun in her face. The last person she expected or wanted near her. "Where's the Colt?" he demanded.

"Dean…" Bela started to say.

"No more extra words," Dean interjected.

"It's long gone," Bela answered.

"You're lying," spat Dean who quickly started checking her bags.

"I don't have it Dean," Bela tried to tell him but the man wasn't listening. He forcibly spun her around and patted her down, discovering her Walter PPK/S pistol. It was small and easy to conceal. But it didn't do you any good when someone removes it from you.

"Oh yeah I'm definitely going to take your word for it. Don't move," Dean ordered her as he started looking through the drawers then Bela's luggage.

"It's gone Dean. The demons have it," Bela admitted.

Dean gave a mixed look. He was disappointed, confused, and mostly angry. "What are you talking about?"

There was no reason to lie to him anymore. "I…made a deal Dean. I was young and stupid and…," Bela tried to explain.

"And now it's come due right? Tell me Abby was it worth to have your parents killed?" spat Dean.

Bela was almost at a loss for words. He knew everything. "How did you….?"

"Doesn't matter. Let me guess. Your little deal didn't work out," Dean again talked over her.

Bela nodded, "They changed the terms. Now they want me to kill Sam."

"Well there's a plot twist. Demons who don't keep their word," Dean scoffed.

"Dean please…" Bela nearly started to beg for his help. For the past few months, she lost track of Sam and Dean's whereabouts. She nearly slept every night with one eye open and yet once Crowley took the pistol she had no idea how to contact them. The only way she knew how to get in touch with them was Bobby but he wasn't answering his phone. Probably on a hunt himself.

"Oh shut up. How stupid are you to trust the word of some demon over me and Sam? We could have used the Colt to kill any one of those demonic poodles that'll come after you and now we've got nothing," snapped Dean.

"You're right I should have trusted you. What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? Well I am and I almost want to die rather than say this. Please help me. I'm begging you," cried Bela.

"Why should I?" Dean's eyes were piercing, almost condemning her.

"I…I…" Bela tried to think of something clever or heartwarming to say but nothing came to her. Finally she just said, "You know what. You're right. I don't deserve it so just get it!" Just asking for Dean's help now was almost too much for her to bear. Bela wasn't going to die crying on her hands and knees in front of anyone. She half expected Dean to walk out the door but he didn't.

"You might think you don't deserve it but there's a little boy growing in the Fosters' home has a mother he doesn't even know exists. And if he knew you did, he wouldn't want you to die," Dean stated. Bela thought she'd feel some relief but Dean's judging eyes didn't make her feel any better. "So I'm going to help you if only for his sake."

"Thanks," Bela sighed.

"Don't thank me. I'm probably not going to be able to do anything now the Colt is gone," Dean reminded her. He just had to twist the knife didn't he?

"I know and you could have saved yourself too. They told me about your deal Dean. You probably don't have much time either so I guess we're both attendees at the dumb idea class," snapped back Bela. For once it seemed Dean was the one on the receiving end.

"Don't act like we're alike in this Bela. You made a deal to get rich by killing off your folks. I did to save Sammy!" shouted Dean.

"You don't know anything about me," snapped Bela.

"Hey shut up!" someone yelled from the next room. The random shout managed to lower the volume but not the intensity of their voices.

"Then why did you have them killed Bela? Daddy not hug enough? Mommy not give you a big enough allowance?" Dean used the same insults back at Sea Pines when the Winchesters found out the Hand of Glory ghost was coming after her.

"I wanted them both dead for years Dean and it wasn't for money. My father came into my room on the night of my tenth birthday and did things to me. Things that were worse than anything those monsters you kill could ever do to me. Afterwards he said he was sorry and that it wasn't really his fault. A man has needs he repeated over and over again every single time. I tried to tell people but they wouldn't listen to me. It's one thing when strangers don't believe you but it's another thing when they simply don't care. The one time I tried to go to the police and tell them what was happening to me, my own mother told them I was lying. Later that night she slapped me and told me to keep my mouth shut. So when I was approached by a little girl who told me she could make them go away, you're damn right I took it. I didn't know she was a demon and I didn't care. I just wanted them dead," cried Bela.

She hadn't expected to say any of that but once she started talking, it all came pouring out. Bela had this all bottle inside for so long that despite the tears, it strangely felt good. Like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders all these years. Through the rant, Dean's anger and condemning eyes faded away. Just as Bela imagined, hearing the truth changed her in his eyes. No longer was she the scheming conniving bitch but the poor little girl who desperately needed help and never got it. The man was completely speechless. No witty one liners or petty insults, just complete silence.

"I never told that to anyone before," admitted Bela, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah…that's a lot to get off your chest," whispered Dean. He actually believed her. Bela wouldn't have blamed him if he didn't and she was telling the truth but she was surprised he did. Maybe helping to save his life bought her some measure of good will.

"You have no idea," replied Bela. She almost felt naked the way she opened herself up like this. Dean Winchester was probably the first person to see her for who she was.

"Look Bela…I…" Dean started to say. Maybe it was to apologize but realized it was pointless. Telling someone sorry never helped anyone. "I need to leave and get Sammy."

"Dean wait. You can't just leave me now," Bela protested. The last thing she wanted to be was alone now. The illusions kept getting worse and worse.

"I need his help Bela. I can't protect you alone. He's not coming into this room with you but I need him here. Just put Devil's Shoestrings around every door and window and don't leave this room. You'll be safe at least until midnight," said Dean. Of course he wouldn't put his younger brother with Bela. He wasn't going to risk Sam's life by having him in the same room as the woman who needed to kill him to live.

Dean headed for the door and Bela didn't try to stop him. He was going and there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise. "Dean there's something you should know. The demon that holds the contracts. Her name is Lilith. The demon I dealt with told me and from the way he was talking I know he wasn't lying. I don't know if that will even help you but I thought you should know in case I don't make it," said Bela.

Dean turned to face her. "We're all going to make it. You, me, and Sam. And when it's all over, you can repay the favor by calling up Jacob and tell him he has a mother who cares," he said before walking out the door.

* * *

Dean was grateful for the silence during his two hour ride back. Finding Bela was easy enough. All he had to do was search every hotel and motel parking lot in the area for Bela's car. No one else in town would own a Silver Mercedes. Finding her room was even easier after he charmed a receptionist. Then he picked his way into the room and waited for Bela to return. He went in thinking he was taking his Colt back from a woman who murdered her own parents for money. Granted he thought there was more to her. Even Bobby admitted he couldn't figure her out. One minute saving them and the next robbing them. Then Bela had to reveal everything and it all made sense. Of course she didn't trust anyone after what she had to go through. Looking back, it was obvious why she acted the way she did. And Dean could only imagine how much it stung every time he mocked her for not getting enough hugs from Daddy. God he felt so stupid.

He called up Sam and explained the situation. Sam seemed more concerned though about the journal he stole from Doc Benton. He claimed that the doc's method to immortality wasn't black magic but really weird fringe science. This was the ticket to getting out of their deals. They could use it to save Dean and Bela from the hellhounds and Sam when Dean's deal goes wrong for the demons. Dean wasn't convinced but the conversation ended when he heard his brother's muffled cries over the phone. Knowing Doc Benton kidnapped him, Dean recalled the area Sam told him he believed the doc had set up his chop shop and raced as full speed towards it.

A few bullets didn't slow Frankenstein down but a knife dipped in chloroform did. When the old man came to, he was strapped to his own surgery table. Dean thought the freak finally understood how his victims felt. Benton told them he could tell them his secret. Sam tried to urge Dean to listen but he wasn't having any of it. The doc killed other people and stole their body parts which meant Dean would need to do the same. He wasn't going to sacrifice someone else's life for his own. The only thing that made him hesitate slightly was that this might be Bela's only way to survive but the truth was simple. Dean would be turning her into the same monster as Benton, killing other people for parts and Dean just couldn't allow that.

So Dean picked up a meat cleaver and started chopping old doc up into pieces that thrashed around when severed. Even the head was begging him to stop before Dean chloroformed it. They stuffed the pieces into a large plastic container and buried it behind Benton's little shed of horrors. "Rest in pieces doc," Dean said as he dumped the first pile of dirt on top of the container.

* * *

Bela didn't know how much longer she could take this. The illusions were getting worse and longer. She couldn't watch any television or the images would look like they were jumping out of the screen to kill her. She couldn't get to sleep, not with what was coming to her at midnight. So Bela just lay on the bed, praying that Dean would return quickly.

When the sound of a knock came from the door, Bela froze. "Who is it?" she called out.

"Police ma'am. There were reports of shouting from your room," a voice answered. Dammit. This was the last thing she needed to deal with. She got to her feet and headed towards the door, looking through the peephole. Suddenly Bela was lifted through the air by some unknown force and slammed into the door, hard enough to knock it down off its hinges. Bela rolled onto the concrete on the outside, dazed and seeing stars. Before she could regain her senses completely two pairs of hands reached down and grabbed her by the arms, hoisting her up. She was forced to her feet and came face to face with one that was familiar.

"Did you miss me luv?" Crowley asked.

* * *

"You don't even want me in the same room?" frowned Sam after Dean explained his little plan. Well technically it wasn't really a plan. More like a strategy that ultimately wasn't going to do much but prolong the inevitable. But Dean didn't word it like that.

"Bela's desperate Sammy. She's terrified and I am not putting you in the same room as her. People do crazy things when they're desperate, even believe demons," explained Dean. He knew all about desperate. When Sam was killed last year, Dean knew what he had to do the moment he clenched his brother's body. It had just been a matter of mustering the strength to make a deal with a Crossroads Demon. Did he think he made the right decision? Yes and he would do it all over again.

"Fine. When Bobby gets here, I'll…Dean isn't that Bela's motel?" Sam said, noticing something. When Dean saw the fire, he knew it was Bela's room. The fire department had arrived to put the blaze and a crowd was circling the scene. Dean hit the brakes, shifted the gear into park, and rushed out the door. "Dean!" he could hear Sammy shouting behind him. Dean pushed and shoved his way through the crowd until he was finally stopped by patrolmen guarding the scene.

Dean quickly pulled out a fake badge and they allowed him to pass. He made his way over to the firefighters who emerged from the room. "Was anyone in there?" he demanded.

"Who the hell are you?" said one of them as he removed his breathing apparatus.

"Did you find anyone in there?!" Dean shouted.

"Calm down pal. No one was in there," the firefighter replied.

"Dean we need to go now," Sam told him as he grabbed his brother by the shoulder, urging him back.

* * *

Bela awoke with a killer headache. The last thing she remembered was Crowley's sadistic smile so one would natural expect to be dead or in some kind of torture chamber. But that didn't seem to be the case as Bela got a bearing on her surroundings. She was lying on a bed in what looked like a child's room. The room had pink wallpaper with stick figure drawings on the wall along with dolls and teddy bears arrayed on a nearby shelf. There were curtains designed to surround the bed but were open at the moment.

"Wakey wakey sleepy," said a voice. Bela glanced over at the doorway to see a blonde little girl. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine.

"Where am I?" asked Bela, completely confused.

"You're in my bed. I knew you would like it. It's much better than Mommy and Daddy's bed. It's just too hard for me," answered the girl. Bela watched her as she skipped up to the bed. "C'mon Bel Bel. It's time to get up. Today's my birthday and we're going to have lots of cake, ice cream, and presents. It'll be fun," she giggled.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" moaned Bela, starting to think this was some kind of weird dream.

"Lilith," the girl smiled before her eyes turned pure white.

(Next chapter Dean races to save Bela from Lilith's birthday party. I apologize in advance fellow Bela lovers but you won't like what she's going to endure.)


	8. No Rest for the Wicked

**Jamestown, New York**

Dean had called Bobby earlier to get to Warsaw as quickly as possible. He just got back from hunting a Ghoul in a nearby town and skipped dinner to haul ass to New York. More than halfway there, Dean called him back and told him the news. Bela was gone. Her motel room had been torched but there were no signs of a body. Still Dean wasn't very optimistic. It was past midnight and if Bela wasn't holed up where the hellhounds couldn't get her, she was dead.

Bobby kept going since Dean still needed help. He could hear it in the eldest Winchester's voice. His tone sounded exactly like when John died. This was more than just failing to save someone in need of help. Bobby knew Dean and Bela weren't exactly friends but there was something between them. Bela may have stolen from Dean countless times but yet more than once put her own life on the line to save him. Whatever the boy felt about her, Bobby never asked. When he arrived at the motel Dean and Sam were staying at the next morning, the mood was somber to say the least. Dean didn't say much and Sam was worried. He had every reason to be. Dean had less than a day left and they were out of leads. Bela was their last shot at finding the Colt and she was gone.

"C'mon Dean. We should go back to my place. I've got enough devil traps and salt to hold those bitches at bay. At least until we can figure something out," suggested Bobby.

"No," Dean replied bluntly.

"Excuse me?" frowned Sam.

"There's no point. Holding them off isn't going to do me any good and remember what that demon said Sammy? If I try to wiggle my way out of this deal, you die," answered Dean.

Sam glared at him, furious. "So that's it?! You're just going to lie down and die?!"

"What other choice do I have Sam?" Dean snapped back at him. "Nothing I do is going to get me out of this and even if I try then you'll just die with me."

Bobby was half-tempted to knock some sense into him when his cell phone went off. While the brothers continued arguing, he pulled out his phone and checked the Caller ID. Bobby couldn't believe his eyes. It was Bela's number. She had this particular cell phone disabled for the past few months, probably to avoid the Winchesters from using it to track her. "Guys!" Bobby shouted to get Dean and Sam to shut up. He held up the phone so they could see the Caller ID.

Dean nearly snatched the phone from Bobby's hands. "Calm down ya idjit. I'll put it on speaker," he said, pulling the phone away from Dean's grasp. If this was a demon, then the less it knew the better. It wanted to talk to Bobby so that's what it'll get.

"Hello," Bobby answered, putting it on speaker.

"Hi Mister Singer," a childish voice greeted him.

"Who is this?" demanded Bobby.

"My name is Lilith," the child answered. Bobby glanced at Dean who mouthed the words **Demon Bitch**. That didn't sound good.

"What do you want?" asked Bobby.

"Just for you to invite Dean to my birthday party. Bela's already here and we're having so much fun," giggled Lilith.

A scream could be heard in the background. "Stop!" Bela pleaded.

"Don't scream. Screaming makes me angry," Lilith warned her.

Dean snatched the phone from Bobby. "You touch her again and I will kill you bitch!" he screamed.

"Pottymouth," laughed Lilith. It was unnerving to hear a demon talking like that inside of a child. As if Lilith herself was a child. "6330 Lockwood Drive. New Harmony, Indiana. That's where you'll find me and your precious Bel Bel. Oh and don't worry about bringing a present. Your intestines will make great beads for me to wear." The line went dead.

* * *

Bela clenched her shoulder. It hurt like hell but thankfully it wasn't broken. Lilith had telekinetically slammed her against the wall, crushing her against it to elicit a desired scream. Bela had refused to say anything at first once the demon called up Bobby with her cell phone but nearly breaking her shoulder changed that. She could hear Dean shouting profanities at her and Lilith gave them the address. Then the demon crushed the phone with her bare hands. "No more phone calls. I want breakfast," Lilith smiled.

* * *

"Either we go in smart or not at all!" Dean shouted. Every fiber in his being wanted to rush out the door and drive to where that demon keeping Bela but it was suicide. This Lilith sounded like she was the new replacement for yellow eyes that witch-teaching demon was referring to a few months back. Which meant she was probably very powerful and worse had a bunch of demonic backup just waiting for the Winchesters to run into the proverbial buzz saw. Dean wanted to save Bela but not if it meant he was going to get Sam and Bobby killed. Truthfully he was just waiting for an opportune moment to sneak out, disable Bobby's truck, and then drive off alone on a one way suicide. He was going to get himself killed but maybe he could at least save Bela.

"Okay fine. That's the case I have the answer. A way to get us a bona fide demon-killing Ginsu," stated Sam. Dean nearly wanted to scream. He wanted to summon Ruby. That lying manipulative demonic bitch has been playing them since the start. She told Sam she could save Dean's soul only to later admit to Dean that she can't. And he wouldn't be surprised if she knew about Lilith from the start and never told them. Granted Ruby's been helpful but it was only to get them to do what she wants. The moment they're no longer useful to her, Dean had no problem believing she'll try to kill them.

"Damn it Sam no," snapped Dean.

"We are so past arguing. I am summoning Ruby," replied Sam.

"The hell you are. We've got enough problems as it is," said Dean.

"Exactly. And we have no time and no choice," said Sam.

"Come on man. She's a lying skank. She told you that she could save me. Lie! Also she never once mentioned Lilith and that she's the demon who holds my contract. Bela figured it out and yet Ruby couldn't?" argued Dean.

"Fine she's a liar but she's still got that knife. I never said we should trust her Dean. Just to use her and if you don't care about your own life then at least care about what happens to Bela!" snapped Sam.

Dean wanted to yell at them not to but something inside just wouldn't let him say the words. The guilt inside of him was felt like it was about to explode like a geyser. It was more than just inflicting the same guilt onto Sam that Dean felt when Dad made a deal to him. He had a chance to save Bela but didn't. Dean left her back at the motel room rather than bringing her with to save Sam. He was so concerned about his brother's safety that he left her alone and vulnerable. And now who knows what that demon is doing to her?

* * *

Lilith led Bela by hand down the stairs to the ground floor. The sadistic white-eyed monster had seemingly turned into a playful child and Bela was too frightened to argue or resist her. She didn't know if Dean was on his way to rescue her or not but all she knew was that it was morning and no hellhounds were breaking down doors to rip her apart. Bela wasn't naïve to think she dodged the bullet. Lilith was only forestalling the attack dogs until she got the Winchesters then the demon will gladly sick the mutts on Bela.

"Watch out for Miss Winter. She used to be my babysitter but she didn't let me fun," said Lilith. Bela understood what she was talking about when she saw the corpse of an elderly woman lying by the front door. Flies were buzzing over the mutilated body, her intestines ripped out. Bela could smell air freshner but it did little to mask the rotting scent.

Lilith took Bela into a dining room where a middle-age man and woman that were probably the parents of Lilith's host. The look of horror on their faces when they saw their daughter spoke volumes. Who knows how long the demon's been tormenting them.

"Morning," Lilith smiled at the couple.

"Good…morning sweetheart," the mother shivered.

"Morning," nodded the father.

"This is my new best friend Bela. Say hello," Lilith introduced Bela. The parents all smiled as best as they could as they greeted Bela. "Mommy I want blueberry pancakes for me and my friend."

"Of course sweetheart," the mother said before nearly running into the kitchen. Lilith took a seat at the table and then glanced at Bela. Taking the hint, she sat down as well.

"My mommy makes the best pancakes. You'll like them" explained Lilith. She glanced around, searching for something. "Where's Grandpa?"

"Taking a shower sweetie," the father answered. Bela got the impression that if anybody tried to run, they'd regret it. A few minutes later the mother returned with blueberry pancakes. Bela thought they actually looked good enough to try but she never got the chance.

Lilith glared at the pancakes. "You always make them in a butterfly shape on my birthday," she growled. The blood was draining from the mother's face. "Why are they round?" demanded the demon. The mother was almost too frightened to say anything and Bela wasn't about to get into the middle of this. Besides what could she possibly do anyways?

"I…I'm sorry honey. I was just…I just got so…preoccupied with your birthday cake," the mother stuttered as everyone held their breath.

"That's okay. I forgive you mommy," Lilith smiled innocently. The mother breathed a sigh of relief as the demon turned her attention to a black and tan Pomeranian walking into the dining room. "Here Fluffy," Lilith called out to it. The dog growled as she reached out to pet it. Bela was always a cat person but if a dog could sense someone possessed by a demon, she was going to have to get herself one.

Lilith glared at the mutt as it scampered off. "I don't think I like him anymore," she whispered.

A few minutes passed before the mother returned with butterfly shaped blueberry pancakes. Lilith seemed happy enough once she got her plate but stopped before grabbing her silverware. "I want something better than syrup," she said before getting to her feet and walking off.

Bela might not get another chance like this so she had to take it. "Do you have any spray paint or markers or anything you can use to draw?" she whispered to the parents.

"What? Draw?" asked the father.

"Do you know what's happened to my daughter?" asked the mother.

Bela didn't have time for this. "Just shut up and tell me do you have anything that can be used to make symbols on a floor or ceiling? I know this sounds ridiculous but it might be the only way anyone of us gets out of this alive," she stated.

What she really needed was to be able to make a devil's trap and catch Lilith in it. Then Bela might stand a chance of getting out of here. She wasn't naïve enough to think there weren't other demons watching the house but it was better than just waiting for Dean to show up. Once the knight in shining armor shows up, Bela and the rest of this family were expendable.

"No. She took all the canyons and markers," said the mother.

"What about tape?" asked the father.

"Tape?" frowned Bela.

"I have some masking tape in the garage. Leftovers when we recently painted some of the room," answered the father. Not exactly ideal but it was better than nothing.

Everyone quickly shut their mouths as Lilith came skipping back to the dining room, clenching something in her hand. She took a seat and dropped the contents in her hand onto her pancakes. Bela was just as horrified as the parents as she realized it was human intestines. "I guess Miss Winter was actually for good for something after all," Lilith stated before she used a fork and knife to cut the intestine-laced pancakes into pieces.

* * *

Dean and Bobby stood back while Sam prepared a summoning ritual. The eldest Winchester was not comfortable with any of this but the fact was that unless they get Ruby's help or specifically that knife she carries around, they stood no chance of killing Lilith and saving Bela. It was only because of Bela that Dean was even going along with this.

Sam muttered some things in Latin while mixing herbs in a bowl surrounded by symbols draw in marker. Then he lit a match and tossed it into the bowl, igniting the herbs and completing the ritual.

"You know they invented this great new invention called a phone," a voice spoke behind Dean. He jumped and turned around to see Ruby standing there with that usual arrogant glare of her's.

"Don't sneak up on me like that again," Dean growled.

"You rang me, not the other way around. Regular people tend to show a little respect when they want something from someone," Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah well you don't count as someone you lying bitch," shot back Dean.

"Wow. This is the thanks I get for saving your lives. Maybe I should go visit Aruba now and leave you three to solve whatever problem forced you to call me," retorted Ruby. Dean didn't say anything else, knowing it wasn't going to help. The demon turned her attention back to Sam. "So you called?"

"Did you know?" asked Sam.

"I'm gonna need a tiny bit more," Ruby stated.

"About a demon named Lilith," Bobby spoke up. "And the fact that she owns Dean's contract."

"Yes I did," Ruby stated with any sign of remorse.

"I knew it," scoffed Dean. "You've been jerking us around since day one."

"I didn't tell you because you yahoos would have went after her half-cocked and Lilith would peeled the meat off your pretty faces. That whole power vacuum since Azazel's death is over and Lilith now reigns supreme. You think she took over hell because she likes to eat baby livers and kill puppies? She's one of the oldest and probably strongest demon in existence. Personally I never understood why she didn't duke it out with yellow eyes for the top spot. She certainly got the muscle to do it," explained Ruby.

Dean glared at her, "You've had us running in circles for almost a year. If you had told us from the start, we could have planned it out and used the Colt to kill her."

"The Colt wouldn't do you any good. Not unless you get a perfect shot while she's distracted and she always goes everywhere with an entourage of powerful demons. You'd be dead before you could get a shot off," said Ruby.

"Yeah well what's your alternative then?" demanded Bobby.

"You two would get slaughtered…" Ruby said before turning her eyes to Sam. "…but Sammy here is another story."

"What are you talking about?" frowned Sam.

"Even with the Colt and my knife which is not doubt the reason you called me in the first place, it won't work."

"And why the hell not?" snapped Dean.

"I know that she was on some R&R but something happened and now she's got a whole army surrounding her," said Ruby.

"Because Lilith's expecting us," Sam sighed. Dean glared at him for admit this but his brother ignored him. "She even told us where to find her."

"Well then that's the one place you want to be as far away as possible," Ruby stated bluntly.

"This is our only chance to save Dean," Sam spoke up.

Ruby frowned, her eyes scanning the look of all three men in the room with suspicion. "What's really going on here? The Dean Winchester I know would never let anyone risk their lives for him on a suicide mission. And Lilith wouldn't call you unless she was absolutely certain you would come so she has more than just Dean's soul," she said. Ruby was a bitch but she wasn't a stupid bitch.

"She's got someone," said Dean.

"Who?" asked Ruby.

"Doesn't matter. We're going so you can either help us or you can give me the knife and leave," Dean gave her an ultimatum.

"Even with the Colt and my help you'll never be able to pull this off," Ruby repeated her earlier claim.

"We don't have the Colt," Sam admitted. Dean glared at him again for revealing information this bitch doesn't need to know. "It was stolen," he added.

Ruby looked like she wanted to Sam by the throat. "I'm sorry. Did you just say the one thing that Lilith is genuinely afraid in this world got stolen from your thick, clumsy, idiotic hands?"

"Alright I've had enough of this. We're wasting time now are you going to help us or not?" demanded Bobby.

"No," scoffed Ruby. "Even with the Colt it was a suicide mission."

Before Dean or Bobby could make a move, Sam quickly spoke up, "Wait a minute. You said something about me being able to have a chance."

"Glad someone was paying attention," Ruby sighed with annoyance. "Sam you have more than a chance. You've got the power to kill Lilith with just a thought."

The Winchesters and Bobby all had the same confused looks. "Wait a minute. You're talking about that whole psychic crap," Sam remembered.

Dammit Dean knew this was going to eventually come back up. Whatever Azazel had planned for Sammy went down the crapper when Dean put a Colt bullet in his chest but that didn't take away the demon blood still running in Sam's veins. And almost all everyone that yellow-eyed bastard gave the demonic cocktail to become a psychotic killer. "Oh hell no," Dean shook his head.

"You morons lost the Colt so this isn't option B or C. It's the only one you've got," said Ruby.

"My visions stopped after yellow eyes died. It's gone," stated Sam.

"Not gone, just dormant. And it's not just visions either. Why do think Lilith set this trap up for all of you in the first place? It's not for Dean since he'll be dead soon enough. It's for you Sam. Lilith is doing all of this to kill specifically you and that's because she's afraid of you," Ruby explained.

"And you're just telling us now because?" demanded Sam.

"Because of the stupid look you're dumbass brother is giving me," Ruby pointed out. Right now Dean had never been more tempted to kill this bitch. She was going to try and turn Sam into whatever Azazel wanted him to be. Sure he might kill Lilith but what would he become in the process?

"The fact is that you would have never considered until you were too desperate enough to say no," Ruby added.

"Well I'm still saying no you slutty little Yoda," Dean declared.

"Dean," Sam tried to calm him down.

"You're not going to teach him anything. You understand me? Over my dead body!" snapped Dean.

"Give it another day and I will you," chuckled Ruby.

Now Dean had lost all his patience. "Give me that knife and run back to whatever slop you came from and never bother me or my brother again," he demanded.

"Dean just hold on a second," Bobby protested. Dean couldn't believe that Bobby was actually considering this.

"No! I am sick of this whole antichrist superstar crap that everybody seems to want my brother to become well it's not happening," shouted Dean.

"I want Lilith dead and this is the only way to do it," stated Lilith.

"Oh right because you're a nice demon that likes kittens and long walks on the beach," Dean mocked.

Now Ruby was the one losing her patience. "I am so sick of proving myself to you. You want to save yourself then this is how you dumb spineless dick!" she snapped.

Dean decided enough was enough and did something the moment she first ported into the room. He slugged her across the chin. The blow caught her off guard but she was able to stay on her feet. Furious, Ruby unleashed a fury of punches and kicks within a matter of seconds that knocked Dean to the floor. Sam tried to stop her but got tossed into the wall for his efforts. Bobby threw the contents of a water bottle in her face. Ruby screamed in pain as she realized it was holy water. Then he grabbed her and shoved her towards a corner of the room.

By this time Dean and Sam got back to their feet. Ruby had recovered as well but when she tried to lunge, she was stopped. The demon glanced up in the air to see a devil's trap. Dean and Bobby had it prepped just in case Ruby wouldn't cooperate. "I'll kill you sons of bitches!" she snapped.

Dean grabbed some more holy water and tossed it into her face, inflicting enough pain to distract her long enough to snatch the knife hanging from her belt. "Thanks for the partying gift," he chuckled then headed towards the door. "C'mon guys let's go."

"Wait a minute you're just leaving me? Are you just too stupid to live? Then fine you deserve hell. I hope Lilith rips your heart out and feeds it to the hell hounds!" Ruby shouted at them as they left.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Bobby as they headed to their vehicles.

"She wasn't going to help us Bobby," explained Dean. Sam didn't say a word.

Bobby was the exact opposite, roughly grabbing Dean by the shirt and forcing him to stop. "You listen to me you selfish son of a bitch. You don't get to be the only one who sacrifices yourself in this family. And the only reason I'm not going to beat your ass into changing your mind about all of this is because I don't trust that demon bitch anymore then you do. But if we do this then it's because we're doing this to save both you and Bela. Not just her. You're not dying tonight. Are we clear boy?" he demanded to know.

"Crystal," nodded Dean. The threat actually made him feel pretty good, knowing uncle Bobby cared about him even if he didn't think he deserved it.

"Good. I'm pretty sure someone heard our little tussle with Ruby so let's get out of here before the cops show up," nodded Bobby.

* * *

Bela fumbled through the contents on the shelves in the garage, looking for the masking tape the father mentioned before. After breakfast, Lilith insisted on the dad pushing her on the swing in the back yard. Bela couldn't get a chance to ask him where it was so she had no choice but to check everywhere. She found the tape but also checked around in there was any chalk or spray paint can the family simply forgot about. Unfortunately Bela didn't find anything else that could help her out. Which meant she was going to have to do this the hard way. Ripping enough pieces of tape and arranging them into a large enough devil's trap was going to be a bitch. But she didn't have much choice.

Bela made her way out of the garage and told the mother to tell Lilith that she was going to take a shower. She asked where it was and the mother gave her directions to the upstairs. Locking herself in and quickly turning on the shower to cover her work, Bela worked as quietly as she possibly could to tape a devil's trap onto the ceiling right in front of the door. Lilith would be trapped the moment she stepped inside and Bela could escape through the window. After that she was going to get her hands on a working cell phone and tell Dean to get his ass here ASAP. Like it or not, Bela couldn't run away. She had no doubt that Lilith just put her contract on hold and not broken it. Maybe with the Winchesters help, that'll change.

She was maybe halfway through when there was a knock on the door. "Bel Bel. Are you using up all the hot water?" Lilith called out. Bela felt like her stomach was jumping up through her throat.

"I…lost track of time," Bela managed to say. Her teeth where nearly clattering as she spoke but considering Lilith wanted her like that, maybe that wouldn't give this all away.

The door swung open as if hit by a battering ram. Lilith stood outside, her suspicious eyes glaring at Bela. Then they slowed looked up to the ceiling. Bela tried to rush to the window but was suddenly lifted off her feet, slamming face first into the nearest wall. Lilith had her pinned, unable to move. "You've been a naughty girl Bel Bel."

"Screw you bitch," Bela spat at her. She knew what was going to happen next and she wasn't going to give the demon the satisfaction of begging.

"I know how you can make this up to me. Let's sing one of my favorite songs. This Little Piggy," Lilith giggled. Bela had no idea what she was planning on until she noticed the demon eyeing her right hand. "This little piggy went to market…" Lilith sang before Bela's thumb was snapped back, breaking the bone. She screamed in pain. "…this little piggy stayed home…" Lilith continued then Bela's index finger was snapped. Bela's screams got even louder. "…this little piggy had roast beef…" another verse, another finger. "…this little piggy had none…" Her ring finger twisted and snapped. "…this little piggy will make you cry wee wee all the way home," giggled Lilith. Bela's pinky didn't just snap but was telekinetically ripped right off.

Bela screamed so loud her lungs were almost out of breath. Lilith finally released the hold on her and Bela slide to the floor, tears streaking down her cheeks. Her hand felt like it was on fire and she was almost too afraid to touch what fingers she had left. God it hurt so much.

"We're not done Bel Bel. You have two hands," Lilith smiled sadistically as her eyes turned white.

* * *

"Shut up Sam!" Dean snapped at his brother. For the past hour the two had been bickering and arguing about what happened back at the hotel room with Ruby. Sam wanted to go back and get more details about learning Jedi Force Powers while Dean had no intention of ever seeing that manipulative bitch ever again.

"We have only one shot at this Dean. If there's a surefire way of pulling this off…" Sam protested.

"No! Don't you get it? Dad's deal, my deal. Every time one of us is up the creek, the other is begging to sell their soul. You know what it's paved with and you know where's it going," Dean interrupted him.

"What are you afraid is going to happen to me? That all I'll turn into some kind of monster?" demanded Sam.

"Yes Sam. That's exactly what Ruby, Azazel, and all the rest of those sons of bitches want. You remember Jake, Ava, Anseem, Max? They didn't start as bad people and look what happened to them," Dean reminded his brother of Azazel's other special children. All of them turned psychotic and became killers.

"Can't you see it Sammy? I'd do anything for you and you'd do anything for me. Those bastards have been using that against since day one," continued Dean.

"So what we just stop looking out for each other?" sighed Sam.

"No. We stop being martyrs. We stop bending over for these demons and go after Lilith our way. By sticking that knife into the bitch's heart. That's the way Dad taught us to and if we go down then we go down swinging," Dean answered.

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes. Dean waited for his brother to respond but he didn't say anything at all. "You totally should have been jamming Eye of the Tiger during that speech," chuckled Sam.

Dean glared at him then started laughing as well. "Bite me. I rehearsed that speech too," he laughed. His smile faded as he decided to exploit his brother's willingness. It wasn't something he was going to like but it had to be done.

"Listen Sam. When we get there and if we somehow manage to get inside alive, I want you to grab Bela and get her out as fast as you can," Dean requested.

Sam's smiled faded. "Seriously? Dean you're going to need my help on this one," he argued.

"You heard Ruby back there. As much as I hate her, I have to agree with her on this one thing. Lilith is going this to get you not me. Only of us can use the knife so it has to be me. My number's up at midnight anyways. I know you're not going to like it but tough. So please just promise me this one thing and get Bela to safety," said Dean.

Sam looked like he wanted to argue but didn't say anything. Dean took that as a reluctant acceptance when he saw red and blue flashing lights in his rearview mirror. He knew he should have replaced that busted tail light sooner. Dean pulled off to the side of the highway with the patrol car parking right behind them. Sam immediately grabbed one of the fake registration papers they kept in the glove compartment as the officer stepped out of the car.

"Is there a problem officer?" Dean asked as he rolled down the window for the approaching cop.

"License and registration please," he requested. Dean sighed as he handed them over, not even glancing at the man. He was in such a hurry, he didn't bother trying to argue to avoid any ticket. Saving Bela was his first priority and then his own soul was second. Everything else didn't matter. "You do realize you have a tail light out Mr…Hagar?" the officer added.

Dean glanced up to talk to him face to face when he saw another one of his hallucinations. The cop's face was distorted and ugly only something was different. The illusions Dean saw before were constantly shifting and normally passed after a few seconds. This one wasn't. "Uhh…yes sir," Dean spoke up. His hand slipped into his pocket where he kept Ruby's knife. "I've been meaning to take care of that. As a matter of fact…"

Dean suddenly swung the door open, hitting the officer on the hip and knocking him down. Dean jumped out of the car and stabbed the man right in the throat. The officer gasped as his skin glowed, just like whenever the knife killed someone possessed by a demon. Bobby's truck pulled out by the time it was all over. "What the hell happened?" Bobby demanded.

"Dean just killed a demon," said a stunned Sam. "How'd you know?"

"I just knew," shrugged Dean. It was a lucky guess actually that what he saw on the man's face was more than just an illusion and it was one that just saved him and his brother's life. "I could see its face. It's real face under that one."

After hiding the body and the patrol car off the side of the road, Bobby surmised that with such little time left that Dean's eye were starting to see past the veil of life and death. It sounded crazy but what else could possibly explain any of this. Whatever the reason for it, Dean saw it as finally some good news. Now Lilith and her demon bitches were going to be able to hide from him.

* * *

By the time the Winchesters and Bobby arrived at New Harmony, the sun was down and race was on. Dean and Bela's time were running out but it wasn't like they could just rush in and gank the demon bitch. Dean scouted ahead and noticed dozens of people throughout the neighborhood were possessed by demons. Just getting close to her was practically suicide. The three managed to sneak into an empty house directly across the street from where Lilith told them she was. Dean used binoculars to scan through any window he saw and managed to spot a normal looking family eating in the dining room. Only problem was that the little girl's face was monstrous and disturbing. Three guesses who that was.

Add to the fact that an old man had his face lying on a plate full of pudding and cake. His eyes hadn't blinked at all and his body was completely still. You didn't need to check his pulse to know he was dead and yet the man and woman just kept on cutting the cake and going on like nothing was wrong. Apparently this was Liltih's version of R&R. Completely torment an innocent family and probably kill them all once she got bored.

"I don't see Bela anywhere," Dean grumbled.

"You don't think Lilith…" Sam started to say but stopped himself.

"I'm not two years old Sammy and no she didn't. Lilith won't kill Bela until we show up to watch her die. All these sadistic sons of bitches are predicable," growled Dean. That still didn't mean that Lilith had fun with Bela. Who knows what kind of tortures she was put through?

"Do you see Lilith?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah…inside the kid," sighed Dean. Dammit Lilith was smarter than your average demon. When the Winchesters come after her, they were going to need to kill the kid to gank the demon. Just the thought of stabbing that little girl with the knife made Dean cringe.

"You sure it's just the girl?" asked Sam.

"The only demon I see is in the kid," Dean said with certainty. At least from what he could see, Lilith was the only one. Who knows how many were waiting inside to ambush them?

"Alright then let's go. We're wasting time," said Sam.

"Wait. Notice something wrong with this picture? The mailman delivering mail at eleven pm? And Mr. Rogers over there?" Dean pointed out every demon he could see. Lookouts and if just one spotted them the game was over.

"Demons?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah," nodded Dean.

"Okay fine, we ninja past them and sneak in," said Sam, a little too anxious to get going.

"And what? Give a Columbian necktie to a ten year old girl?" groaned Dean.

"This isn't about saving you Dean. This is about saving everybody. Bela and the parents," said Sam.

Dean didn't like but his brother was right. The three split after coming up with quite possibly the craziest plan they had ever dreamed of. While Bobby set up a holy water sprinkler system, Dean and Sam went Rambo on the two lookouts with Ruby's knife and quickly hide the bodies. With those two out of the way, they headed towards the backyard fence but before Dean could grab the latch, he was suddenly shoved into the chain fence.

"I'd like my knife back please. Or your neck snaps like a chicken bone," Ruby threatened him as she had him painfully hard pressed into the steel. He couldn't see her but Dean could recognize her voice.

"He doesn't have it so take it easy," Sam said, probably had the knife to the demon's throat.

Ruby released him and Dean groaned, clenching his face. He managed to finally see the bitch and she was even uglier than he ever imagined. "How'd you get out," Dean demanded.

"What you don't know about me could fill a book," Ruby retorted.

"I gotta say I couldn't see it before but you are one ugly broad," Dean remarked. That got him a punch in the face from Ruby, knocking him to the ground.

"That was for throwing holy water in my face," growled Ruby. Sam got between the two of them, ready to stab the bitch the moment she tried something like that again. "Sam give me the knife before you hurt yourself."

"You'll get it when this is over," promised Sam.

"It's already over! I gave you a way to save Dean. You shot me down now it's too late. He's dead and I'm not gonna let you die too," snapped Ruby.

"Try and stop me and I'll kill you bitch," Sam threatened her.

Dean would have been proud of his brother's remarks except Ruby was about to become the least of their problems. "Uhh guys. Have your little catfight later," he gulped.

Across the street, dozens of humans with black eyes were exiting their homes and heading straight for them. So much for the element of surprise. Sam, Dean, and Ruby took off running towards the front door with the entire possessed neighborhood right behind them. As Sam tried to pick the lock, the sprinkler system for the front lawn activated and doused several demons. They screamed in pain and quickly retreated while the rest were held at bay. Good old Bobby and his crazy ideas.

The three stepped inside and nearly tripped on the corpse of an old woman. Her intestines had been ripped out and her body was covered in flies. The worst part was the smell. It was almost enough to make Dean vomit. The house itself was quiet and the lights were all out in the rooms that he could see.

"You think Lilith knows we're here?" Dean asked Ruby.

"Probably," she replied. Not a comforting thought. It was somewhat ironic that they were apparently working with the same demon they left in a devil's trap hopefully never to see her again. But the fact was that they were desperate and couldn't be picky about who they were working with at this point. The three headed into the living room, dark and empty. Dean was expecting a trap around every corner but so far the ambush didn't come. Maybe Lilith was the only demon in the house. Of course if she was as powerful as Ruby said, she didn't need backup to kill them.

The dresser behind them opened and Dean quickly spun around and grabbed the emerging man on the mouth. He wasn't possessed by a demon but he was terrified and if he started screaming then that would give them all away. "We're here to help okay? I'm gonna move my hand and we're gonna talk nice and quiet okay?" Dean whispered.

The man nodded and Dean let go of his mouth. "Sir where's your daughter?" Sam asked.

"It's not…it's not her anymore," the man trembled.

"Where is she?" Sam asked again, losing patience.

"Upstairs in her bedroom," the father answered.

"Is there a woman here? Brown hair, green eyes, real pushy and demanding?" Dean asked about Bela.

"I think she's still upstairs but I don't even know if she's still alive. Those screams…," the father quivered. Dean tried not to panic. Lilith didn't kill Bela, at least not yet. But what if she changed her mind and decided killing Bela before Dean could get to her was more satisfying?

"I want you to go downstairs to the basement and put a line of salt at the door behind you okay? Do you understand me" Dean ordered him.

The father shook his head. "Not without my wife," he protested. Dean wasn't in the mood and was out of patience. He punched the man, knocking him unconscious. Dean carried him off to the basement and set him down on the floor before dumping a salt line around the door then quickly and quietly moving to rejoin the others upstairs.

Once Dean got to the top of the stairs, Ruby emerged from the first door on the right and she wasn't alone. Being helped along was a bloody but living Bela. Dean would have been overjoyed to see her but he was completely horrified. Her hands were a mangled mess, some fingers had been twisted and broken while others had been completely ripped off. Her face was littered with scars, both teared stained eyes were blacked with bruises, and she made quite possibly the most blood chilling moan from her mouth. The reason being her tongue had was gone.

"Jesus," Dean whispered as he quickly pulled her in an embrace. Despite her condition, he was still happy to see her alive. Bela started sobbing as she rested her head against his chest. As much as he didn't want, Dean quickly pulled her off. "Get her out of here," he told Ruby.

Dean headed down the hallway into the next room, which looked like a children's bedroom. Inside Sam was standing over a bed where the mother was lying beside Lilith. Except something was wrong. The little girl's face didn't look like a monster anymore. Then Dean realized Lilith must have jumped ship. Sam raised the knife ready to kill her. The girl opened her eyes and seeing Sam, screamed. Dean quickly lunged at his brother and grabbed his knife hand, stopping him.

"It's not her! It's not in the girl anymore," Dean quickly explained. After quickly getting the mother and daughter into the basement, the brothers found Ruby and Bela in the living room. "I thought I told you to get her out of here!" Dean snapped while Sam was completely stunned by Bela's appearance.

"How?! The whole house is surrounded by demons!" Ruby shouted back.

"Where's Lilith Ruby?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Holy water doesn't work on her so she could have easily gotten past your sprinklers and skipped town by now," answered Ruby.

"Fine you win. What do I do to save Dean?" Sam begged.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean demanded.

"Just shut up for a second," Sam snapped at his brother.

"You have your chance. You can't just flip a switch. We needed time," Ruby said.

"Well there's gotta be something. Whatever it is I'll do it," protested Sam.

"Sammy enough! It's over!" shouted Dean. "You and Ruby get Bela out of here. I'll distract the posse outside and give you enough time to get away."

"No Dean. I'm not going to let you go to hell!" snapped Sam.

"Yes you are!" Dean shouted back. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault but what you're doing isn't going to save me. It's only going to kill you."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" cried Sam. It broke Dean's heart to see his brother like this.

"Keep fighting the good fight. And you better take care of my wheels or I will break out of hell and haunt your ass," Dean tearfully chuckled. He glanced at Bela who was still shivering and in pain. He wanted to tell her he was sorry he couldn't have gotten here earlier. He wanted to say that at least she was alive and no hell hounds were nipping at her heels. He wanted to say so many others thing but the bell chimed in, letting everyone know that it was midnight.

Almost immediately, Dean could hear it. The howling outside and then it was inside. Growling as it got closer. Dean turned to see a black Doberman pincher with glowing red eyes behind him, ready to lung.

* * *

Sam didn't need to hear the hellhound but he knew it was there. Dean and Ruby were both looking directly at the same spot with the same terrified look on their faces. Dean quickly grabbed Bela and the four took off running into a nearby office and slammed the doors shut. The hellhound rammed and banged on them, trying to break them down. Rudy and Sam held the doors shut while Dean quickly dumped gopher dust in front of them. That would hold it back for the moment but they were far from safe. Bela was seat on the floor, still shaking. God only knows what she endured.

Dean next dumped dust around the windows while Ruby urged Sam to give her the knife. "That dust won't last forever," she told him. Well if anyone of them could possibly fight that thing it, Ruby was the most qualified out of all of them.

Sam was about to hand it over when suddenly Dean shouted, "Wait! Sam that's not Ruby!" Ruby or rather Lilith smiled, her eyes turning white.

Sam lunged at her but was suddenly hurled into a nearby wall, pinned against it by an invisible force while Dean was hurled and pinned onto a table. Lilith strolled over to Bela and pat her on the head like a dog. Bela didn't run or even try to resist, just shook like a leaf.

"Get away from her you bitch!" snapped Dean.

Lilith was amused. "You're quite the potty mouth Deany. Bela was too but my little puppy's all house broken now," she giggled.

"How long have you been in her?" demanded Sam.

"Not long but I like it. It's all grown up and pretty," smiled Lilith.

"And Ruby?" asked Sam.

"She was a very bad girl so I sent her far, far away," answered Lilith.

"You know I should have seen it before but you all look alike to me," spat Dean.

Lilith ignored him and turned her attention to Sam. "Hello Sam. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time," she said as she slowly walked up to Sam's immobilized body. Then she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Sam suddenly felt something, as it was a spark that ignited a fire inside of him. What the hell was that kiss all about?

"Your lips are soft," chuckled Lilith.

Sam was half tempted to spit in her face but that wouldn't help the situation. "Okay you've got me now Dean and Bela go," he said.

"I don't know about that," Lilith said before turning and heading back to Bela. "Bel Bel do you want to leave me?" she asked. Bela just didn't even look at her, she just closed her eyes and started sobbing.

"Oh there there pumpkin," Lilith said before embracing Bela almost like a mother coddling a child. Considering what that bitch did to her, it was unnerving to say the least. Dean started struggling even harder but it was pointless.

"It's okay sweet-pee. I still love you so I'm going to do you a favor," Lilith whispered then suddenly grabbed Bela's head and twisted it, snapping her neck.

"NOOOO!" shouted Dean as Bela's lifeless body collapsed to the floor.

"Now you don't have to worry about the hellhounds getting you. You're welcome," Lilith told Bela's body.

"I will kill you bitch!" screamed Dean.

"Who knew puppy chow could be so foul mouthed?" laughed Lilith. She walked over the office doors, kicking the gopher dust aside as she opened them. "Sick 'em boy," Lilith said.

A breeze rushed into the room and Dean was yanked right off the table. He screamed in pain as an invisible attacker started ripping through his shirt and slashing his chest. "No stop it!" Sam helplessly screamed. Lilith laughed hysterically.

Dean tried to fight off his attacker but his fingers gnawed off along with his most of his right hand. Then the hell hound started digging through his chest, chewing and tearing through bone and flesh. Blood splattered everywhere as it ripped through the rib cage and pulled out pieces of internal organs. Dean spat up blood as he gasped his last final breathes.

"No!" shouted Sam.

"Oh yes," smiled Lilith before engulfing him in a light emitting from her hand. Sam shut his eyes and expected this was the end for everyone but strangely enough nothing happened. He opened his eyes as the light dissipated and suddenly he was free from the invisible force holding him. He dropped to the ground, barely able to believe he was still alive. The only one more shocked then him was Lilith. She was completely speechless and trembling as if she was suddenly afraid of him.

Not wasting the opportunity, Sam quickly grabbed the knife which was lying nearby. "Stay back," Lilith warned him but her words felt hollow. She held up her hand but nothing happened. Sam wasn't hurled into the wall or had his neck snapped, his body wasn't incinerated by blinding light, nothing happened Sam lunged at her but Lilith's demonic form shot out of her host's mouth, escaping into the air duct above. Ruby's former body dropped to the ground as lifeless as the rest.

Sam rushed over to Dean but it was too late. His body had been ripped apart on the inside with virtually no internal organs left. He was dead. At first Sam couldn't believe. It couldn't end like this, not after everything they went through. Not like this.

* * *

"Help!" Dean screamed as he came to inside some kind of massive chamber with no roof, floor, or walls. Chains hung all around him, interconnected and weaving like a giant network of metallic spider webs. Thunder roared in the background, snuffing out Dean's cries for help then he heard something else. Another scream. Bela's and then another, a man's. And then another and another and another. The sounds of hundreds if not thousands of screams engulfed him. The sounds of the damned. Dean struggled but was suspended on a series of chain that had been attached to his skin and bones.

"Hello Dean," a voice spoke from a black smoke-like shape that moved through the chain web towards him. The demon had an accent, almost like Marlon Brando. "I've been waiting for you. Don't worry. I'll get to you soon enough," it laughed. The demon moved past and headed towards someone else. It settled on top of the body and suddenly Dean realized it was Bela as she screamed in agonizing pain.

"Enjoy the show Dean because you're next," the demon called out to him.

(I was going to go into more detail of Bela's torture but I figured enough was enough. This chapter was probably the most depressing thing I've ever written in my life but it had to be done. Next chapter Castiel to the rescue as we follow his POV through the episode Lazarus Rising.)


	9. Lazarus Rising

(Finally getting to the good stuff. This chapter will introduce several new angels and more importantly a glimpse at one of the new archangels.)

The demon screamed as Sam concentrated. It twitched and coughed until its essence began to leak out of its vessel's mouth. Finally the demon was completely expelled from the host and sunk into the ground, banished back to hell. The vessel slumped to the ground unconscious. Sam raced over to check on her and smiled. He seemed quite pleased by saving the human's life.

Castiel on the other hand was anything but pleased. He had continued watching the Winchester after his brother's death and the human had gone into a downward spiral of misery and pain. The loss of Dean left a large void in his life, a gap that a demon named Ruby too easily filled. Despite promising his older brother he wouldn't dabble in the demonic powers he suppressed, Sam was all too eager to start learning from Ruby and descended further and further into darkness. His abilities were born of evil and no amount of humans he saves with them would ever change that.

"Still following around the abomination?" Uriel asked as he appeared beside Castiel.

"Sam's abilities are improving but so is his appetite for demonic blood," Castiel stated.

"He's practically one of them now," spat Uriel. It was no secret that he had little love for humans. His specialty was destruction on a large scale and his skill has been put to use many times. Uriel was the one who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah along with killing every firstborn child in Egypt as the final tenth plague. There were times Castiel believed his brother actually enjoyed killing humans but he buried such thoughts. Uriel had been one of his closest brothers in the two millennia since their watch on Earth began.

"Not yet. His humanity is still intact," replied Castiel.

"But for how much longer?" asked Uriel. "You know as well as I do that once he gives into the darkness completely, his humanity will be gone just like the other special children. If we were still allowed to intervene, I would kill him right now."

"He's stronger then you know. I haven't given up hope on him yet," Castiel said firmly.

Uriel was about to reply when another presence joined them. Adriel was one of the few female angels in the garrison and also one of the most devoted to carrying out Heaven's will. She never openly questioned her orders to anyone and never once admitted to losing faith that heaven would someday return. Castiel sometimes envied her faith as his had waned over the centuries.

"Good you're both here. Heaven has sent a messenger," Adriel said with excitement. Castiel and Uriel were speechless, completely stunned. It had been two thousand years since any message had come down from above. The cupids came and went but they rarely spoke to any of their brethren.

"Where?" asked Uriel.

"We are all to assemble as the place whence our watch began," answered Adriel. She was referring to the place on Earth where the angels first landed and spread out. A place that had different names over the years but now it was called Stonehenge. Massive standing stones assembled in a ring formation had been constructed on the site to mark its importance though the reason for its construction was lost among the humans.

Castiel and Uriel immediately teleported to Stonehenge to find nearly the entire garrison were assembled and waiting. Balthazar, Ezekiel, Hester, Inias, Samandriel, Bartholomew, and so many more all finally together in the same place for the first time in two thousand years. But the angel standing in the center of the assembly wasn't one of the garrison.

Zachariah was a Seraph, a high ranking member of the Heavenly Host. He was Anna's direct superior before her fall and supposedly had direct contact with the Archangels, God's most powerful creations and the rulers of Heaven. Castiel had never met one in person. Being of such a low rank didn't make him worthy of their attention but he had witnessed their power before. Angels were warriors but compared to Archangels they barely anything more than insects. A single Archangel had powers that would surpass a hundred regular Angels, perhaps even more so. Only seven exist but now they are divided.

"Brothers and sisters it's been a long time since we've last spoke. For two thousand years you have carried out your duties with due diligence and though the loss of your commander Anna was a bitter blow, you have persevered and for that God is proud of each and every one of you," Zachariah announced. "But now your real assignment is about to begin. Lilith, the new Queen of Hell, is trying to break the first seal of the 66."

Everyone glanced at one another, knowing the ramifications of such an act. The first seal had to be broken in order to start breaking the others. Out of 6600 seals, only 66 needed to be broken and once they were, Lucifer would walk upon the Earth and the apocalypse begins. "We don't know which damned soul she will try to use to carry this out but we do know the only way to stop it. You're going to break into the Pit and spring the human soul loose," continued Zachariah.

It was a bold plan and dangerous. A single demon was no threat to an angel but hell had thousands of demons. If they attempted to break in, the angels would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. "With all due respect Zachariah, such a feat would be extremely dangerous. We don't have the numbers to enter the pit and look for this soul," Castiel voiced what everyone else was thinking.

"Oh don't worry. We'll find out who it is first then send you in and with heavy duty backup. You're going to have not one but two Archangels covering your descent," replied Zachariah. That seemed to ease everyone's concerns about the mission.

"They're sending us in with the big guns," Balthazar whispered to Castiel.

"In the meantime however, it is essential that all of you track down your true vessels and prepare them for house your essence. God has decreed that the time of observation is over. Now we'll get back to what we born to do. Smite the enemies of Heaven into dust," continued Zachariah. The angels all cheered in unison. "You are dismissed."

"Well. Mud monkey suit shopping here I come," muttered Balthazar before disappearing. One by one the others quickly teleported away as well except for Castiel.

"Something you want to add?" Zachariah asked him, surprised that the lower ranking angel remained.

"I believe I know who Lilith is attempting to use to break the first seal. His name is Dean Winchester," Castiel spoke up.

Zachariah sighed in disappointment, "Yes I've heard about your little obsession with that human."

Castiel was surprised. How could he know about that? The Seraph had just returned. "I know because the cupids do more than just connect bloodlines that are useful to us. Who do you think has been Heaven's eyes and ears for the past two millennia?" asked Zachariah.

The idea that cupids could be spies was something Castiel had never once considered. "Castiel you were ordered to observe all that you could and instead of that you kept your focus on two insignificant hunters," continued Zachariah.

"They are not insignificant. Dean Winchester managed to kill Azazel, Lucifer's right hand. And Sam…" Castiel argued then stopped himself.

"Ah yes. The abomination with demon blood inside him," Zachariah commented.

"Lilith is afraid of him. The first and most terrifying of Lucifer's legions trembling because of a human," stated Castiel.

"Sam Winchester will be dealt with in due time. But until then you are to concentrate on getting your vessel's consent and cast aside any lingering thoughts you might have on those two humans. Do I make myself clear?" demanded Zachariah.

"Yes sir," said Castiel. He knew better than to disobey. Murder and rape were considered to be humanity's worst crime but for angels, disobedience was the gravest sin. They were soldiers and soldiers obey. They were not meant to have the free will that humans were granted by God.

Castiel teleported himself to the outskirts of a city named Pontiac. No angel needed to be told who their true vessel was, they already knew who they were. It was simply a matter of gaining the human's consent. Castiel hadn't been in a vessel for more than two thousand years and societal norms have changed. In ancient times, most people were willing to accept the idea of angels taking control of their bodies. These days the idea might seem somewhat ludicrous. Human Civilization had moved towards a more scientific based society but along the way they disregarded the stories passed down by their ancestors. They no longer believed in monsters, demons, or angels.

The human chosen to be Castiel's vessel was named Jimmy Novak. A family man with a wife named Amelia and a daughter named Claire. Castiel didn't really understand what profession Jimmy worked in to provide currency to his family but that's irrelevant. What did matter was that Jimmy seemed to be a devout man who prayed regularly and attended church often. Hopefully that would mean he would open to the idea of angels and eventually saying yes.

Castiel waited until Amelia and Claire went to bed. Jimmy had fallen asleep in front of the television and now was the perfect opportunity to communicate. Castiel approached the human, his presence causing electrical distortions within the house. The television's signal scrambled, awakening the human from his slumber. Jimmy moved towards the TV, trying to change the channel but everyone had the same static.

"Jimmy Novak. My name is Castiel. I am an Angel of the Lord," Castiel announced himself. Jimmy screamed in pain as he covered his ears then dropped to the ground, convulsing. Castiel cursed himself for being so reckless. The man was his true vessel but there was no guarantee he would be able to hear the angel's true voice without enduring intense pain. He quickly withdrew from the area, deciding to take a different approach.

Waiting until Jimmy Novak recovered and went to bed, Castiel entered his dream and manipulated it to suit his needs. At the moment Jimmy was in a massive cathedral, singing hymns with thousands of other worshippers. As they began the chorus, Castiel removed the other constructs so that Jimmy was the only being within the massive church. The human glanced around confused then Castiel appeared before him. The angel had chosen Jimmy's own physical appearance. To the human, he might as well have been a mirror image.

When the human saw him, Jimmy seemed to understand what was happening. "I'm dreaming," he said.

"Yes you are. I needed to wait until you were asleep before I could try and communicate again," explained Castiel.

Jimmy frowned, "Again? What are you talking about?"

"Earlier in the night when you awoke in your living room, I attempted to communicate with you but my voice overwhelmed you," stated Castiel.

"Excuse me? That was just static on the television. I admit I'll need to fix the volume settings…" sighed Jimmy.

"There was nothing wrong with it. My presence can affect electrical circuitry but that wasn't what you heard. My true voice can be intense but certain individuals can hear it," explained Castiel.

"Hear it? It was just white noise…what is wrong with me? I'm arguing with myself in a dream?" Jimmy moaned. The human believed this was all a dream.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be then? An alternate suppressed personality?" Jimmy inquired though his tone was sarcastic.

"No. I am Castiel and I am an Angel of the Lord," Castiel declared. Thunder and lightning roared overhead as his wings faded in and out of focus.

* * *

Over the next several weeks, Castiel had visited Jimmy and spoken with him a dozen times. Learning from his earlier mistake, the angel spoke to him through electronic instruments like a television and radio. This diminished the intensity of his voice, allowing Jimmy to be able to hear him painlessly. At first the human thought he was going crazy but as time went on he began to believe Castiel's words. He was chosen by God for something important. Castiel didn't give him specifics yet until he was certain Jimmy would even say yes and he wouldn't accept the human's consent until he was told the full facts. Jimmy at least deserved to understand what would happen to him.

Amelia Novak was the complete opposite of her husband. While Jimmy began to believe, she thought it was dementia. Castiel once heard an ironic human joke that summed up this entire situation. When you talk to God, it's natural. But when God talks to you, you're insane. She found it after Castiel proved his power by protecting Jimmy's hand as he submerged into scoldering hot water. Unlike Jimmy whose faith became stronger, Amelia was horrified by what happened and managed to take him to something called a psychiatrist. Medical professions had greatly changed over the centuries and Castiel hadn't kept up with the terms and standards of medical care. The psychiatrist didn't impress the angel though. He was too quick to believe all of this was contributed to insanity. Thankfully Jimmy wasn't so close-minded.

Before Castiel could gain his consent however, Zachariah summoned the garrison to their meeting place. Most of the angels managed to gain their vessel's consent but others like Balthazar and Adriel still needed more time. "Time is something we are out of. We've discovered the human Lilith will use to break the first seal and we need to rip him from her grasp as quickly as possible," announced Zachariah.

"Who is it?" asked Castiel.

"It would seem fate has a sense of irony Castiel. His name is Dean Winchester," replied Zachariah. All the angels turn to Castiel in surprise. They all knew he kept an eye on the Winchesters believing that they were important and now it seemed his belief was vindicated.

"As you are the one most familiar with this human, God has commanded that it will be you who will raise him from damnation. The rest of you will cover Castiel. Recovering Dean Winchester is your first priority," explained Zachariah. The angels knew what that meant. Castiel and Dean's safety was now their utmost concern and they are to lay their lives down to protect them. Such missions were what they were created for.

"Once it is finished Castiel you will also brief the human and convince him of his importance to our cause," said Zachariah.

"I understand," replied Castiel.

"We stand ready," Bartholomew said. The other angels nodded in agreement, including Castiel.

"Then prepare yourselves. It's time," said Zachariah. He glanced up into the sky. Dark clouds formed overhead, turning the sunny day into darkness with sporadic bursts of lightning. A gentle breeze turned into intense hurricane winds. For the first time in millennia, archangels were descending from Heaven. The most fearsome creations of God shot down towards the Earth, their forms immense and fearsome. Raphael was the archangel of healing and protection. He was assigned to guarding God's prophets from harm. Ariel was the archangel of nature. The only female archangel had duties pertaining to maintaining the weather and safeguarding beasts and life when God reins judgment upon the Earth just as he did with the Great Flood.

The two Archangels passed right by the garrison, almost like two whales passing by a school of fish. They descended into the Earth, causing earthquakes as they went. Immediately Castiel and the others spread their wings and descended after them. Raphael and Ariel burst through the Gates of Hell and spread out, slaughtering any demon in their wake. The legions were of hell were caught off guard and immediately scattered for their lives. The chaos allowed Castiel to pass by them unchallenged. The rest of his garrison formed around him. Uriel, Balthazar, Adriel, Ezekiel, and the rest all cleaved and tore their way through.

The demonic ranks were lite at first but quickly changed as hundreds of them started swarming around them. The Archangels could only distract so many so he had to work fast. While his brothers and sisters held them off, Castiel scanned through the labyrinths of torture and suffering for Dean. There were so many. Some were being tortured, other were conducting the torture, all part of a methodical machine that creates new demons for Lucifer's army. As his search continued, Castiel could hear his siblings struggling. Ezekiel fought hard but was eventually overwhelmed, getting dragged into a swarm of angry demons that ripped him apart. His death sent out a shockwave that smited his killers. Others fell as well. Bartholomew, Samandriel, Hael, Hannah, and Esper all died trying to give Castiel the time he needed to find Dean.

Then he saw him. A black soul that was inflicting unimaginable pain upon another soul. Castiel didn't want to believe but realized they were too late when he saw who Dean's victim was. Abigail Grayson screamed as Dean carried out sick and twisted fantasies programmed inside of him after months of torture and indoctrination. But even if he broke the first seal, there was still hope. Castiel shot towards him and grasped him. Dean screamed in pain as his wicked and twisted form couldn't stand to be held by something holy and divine. "Let me go!" Dean shouted at him.

Castiel ignored his protests as he shot back up the way he came. The rest of his brothers and sisters continued fighting bravely to protect him but they were slowing getting overwhelmed. Up ahead thousands of demon formed a barrier to prevent the intruders from escaping. Castiel's garrison stood no chance of fighting their way through that but the archangels were another matter. Raphael and Ariel easily tore through their ranks, scattering them like locusts and securing their escape route. With the archangels covering their escape, the angels met no further opposition as they shot of the pit.

Their work finished, the archangels ascended upwards into Heaven. The rest of the garrison followed Castiel as he flew towards Dean Winchester's grave. His soul still struggled but the angel held on tight. They passed overhead a forest near Pontiac, ironically not too far from where Jimmy lived. Castiel violently slammed Dean's soul back into his body, the resulting action sending shockwaves into the woods above it. Castiel then healed Dean's wounds and systemically began to erase moments of the past few months from his memory. When his work was complete, Castiel touched Dean's chest and the human breathed in the breath of life.

His work complete, Castiel shot back into the sky. The others all bowed their heads, a sign of their respect. He had completed their mission but they lost six of their siblings. Castiel had known them for thousands of years but he did not mourn. They died serving God's will. One by one the angels retreated back to their postings and other assignments, leaving Castiel to speak to Dean alone. The angel could only wait until the human slowly emerged from his grave, gasping for air as he pulled himself out of the dirt.

Dean was weakened, hungry, thirty, and most of all confused. He had no idea what had happened to him or how he had come back to live. Believing was too weak to speak with yet, Castiel observed him as he made his way to an empty gas station. As he regained his strength, the angel decided to get closer. This human was special and should be able to understand what Castiel was saying. As the angel feared, Dean became concerned when electrical instruments inside began to flicker. He immediately grabbed containers of salt and tried to cover the windows, no doubt thinking a demon was approaching.

"Dean don't be afraid. My name is Castiel," Castiel called out to him. Dean covered his ears, crying out in pain. The windows shattered all around him as he dropped to the floor. Cursing himself, Castiel withdrew. This was the second time he's tried introducing himself to a human in his natural voice and causing more harm than good. The angel decided to stay away at least for the moment. While Dean had time to recover, Castiel resumed his conversations with Jimmy.

During one of them, Castiel felt a presence approaching. A consciousness was searching for him. Castiel could feel the source of its power, magic. Someone was using abominable dark arts to try and find him. "I invoke, conjure, and command you appear unto before this circle," the being chanted over and over. A human was using witchcraft to see him.

"My name is Castiel and you must turn back," Castiel called out to her.

"Castiel? No sorry Castiel. I don't scare easy," the human told him and resumed her chant. "I conjure and command you show me your face."

"Turn back now," Castiel tried to warn her. His warnings were ignored as the human established a psychic link, seeing his face and paying the price. She screamed in pain just before the connection was severed. Assuming she survived seeing his true form, Castiel felt no real sympathy towards her. Witchcraft originated from demons who taught it to human followers millennia ago. To utilize it was an affront, no matter what noble purpose one tried to use it towards. But the only way she could have established such a link was from something he touched and Castiel only touched one thing. Dean Winchester.

The human was just as diligent as he was before his death. Dean was searching for Castiel, looking for answers. Perhaps now he was ready to for a talk. Castiel waited until Dean was alone. Later that night, Sam quietly left the room. He was going to rejoin Ruby and continue utilizing the dark powers within him. But he was not the angel's mission, Dean was. And that he was alone, Castiel moved closer.

Dean was awakened from his slumber from the electrical distortions in the room. Recognizing what was going on, he immediately sprung out of bed and grabbed a weapon. He was expecting someone to come in from the front door as he had salt lines around the windows. Castiel tried using the television to speak through. Hopefully his voice wouldn't be as intense this way.

"Dean don't be afraid. I'm Castiel and I'm the one who rescued you from the pit," the angel called out to him. Dean didn't seem hear him so Castiel spoke up, "Dean I'm not your enemy." Dean cried out in pain, covering his ears. All around him glass from windows and mirrors shattered. Castiel cursed himself once more for being so foolish. He couldn't speak to the Winchester this way. He needed a vessel to speak through.

Then another voice called out to him. "Castiel. We conjure and command you to appear before us," one voice said then another. Castiel didn't need to see them to know who was trying to summon him. Demons, probably the same ones who ran into Sam and Dean at a diner. Castiel had watched from a distance to make sure the two would be alright but the demons allowed them to leave. These spawns of Lucifer clearly had no idea what they were getting into summoning him but he would grant their wish. Castiel teleported to the diner, his true form passing through the building. He didn't need to utter a word or do anything, his simple presence burned out the eyes of every demon inside. He lashed out, killing most of them. Only one managed to escape but she didn't matter. Castiel had more important things to get to.

The angel teleported back to Jimmy Novak's home. There his true vessel was in another argument with his wife. Once again it was about Castiel. Amelia wanted her husband to take medicine and stop listening to the voice he's hearing. Jimmy on the other hand believed he was being summoned for a higher purpose. Amelia gave him an ultimatum, take the pills or she would take their daughter and leave. Emotionally distraught but determined, Jimmy dressed himself in a coat and left his house.

He glanced up at the night sky and said, "Castiel I want to help you. I'm about to lose my family. What do you want from me?"

Castiel descended, the light of his form shining upon Jimmy's face. Unlike the other human, Jimmy wasn't in pain by viewing Castiel's true form. "You have seen I cannot speak to others in my true voice anymore then I can show them my face. You can see as you are my true vessel but in order for me to conduct God's work, I need to use your body as my instrument to walk upon the Earth. Do you understand me?" explained Castiel.

Jimmy listened to his words and was disheartened. "Yes I understand," he spoke up. He took a deep breath and said, "Promise me my family will be okay and I'll do it."

"You have my word," promised Castiel.

"Then yes," sighed Jimmy. Castiel descended into Jimmy's body and the two merged into one. The angel clenched his fist, getting a feel for his vessel. Castiel felt limited now in his new form but it was necessary to conduct his work so he would learn to live with it.

Hearing a sound, Castiel turned to see Jimmy's daughter Claire coming out of the house. "Daddy," she called out to him. Castiel stared at her for the first time through human eyes. It was strange the way humans visualize things through simple optic nerves. Angels could see everything around them while human's ability to see was greatly limited.

Needing to get back to his mission, Castiel turned away and said, "I'm not your father."

Castiel searched for Dean but couldn't find him anywhere. Perhaps he went into hiding seeing what happened the last several times he encountered the angel. Castiel grew frustrated in his search until he felt another spell being cast with his name. He was once again being summoned, this time by Bobby Singer. Finally things were starting to unfold properly.

Castiel teleported near a wooden barn on the outskirts of Pontiac. His sheer presence intensified the wind, rattling the shutters. Castiel would need to find a way to stop that from happening every time he teleports. Inside the barn, the angel could sense his quarry. Castiel unleashed a telekinetic blast that forced the barn door open as he slowly strolled inside. The lights all sparked and exploded, another side effect of the angel's unchecked power. Symbols and sigils were spray-painted all along the floors, walls, and ceilings. Normally they would ward off demons but they were harmless to angels.

Dean and Bobby fired weapons of salt at him, clearly believing Castiel to be a demon of some sort by their choice of weaponry. The angel was unharmed as he approached them. The two humans exchanged worried looks. Castiel could see Dean grabbing a knife designed to kill demons, one specifically stolen from Ruby.

"Who are you?" demanded Dean.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," answered Castiel.

"Thanks for that," muttered Dean before he lunged forward and stabbed Castiel with the knife. The angel glanced at the weapon protruding from his vessel with annoyance. The blade had no more effect on him then the wards on the walls or the salt they fired upon him. Dean stared at him speechless, stunned. Castiel pulled the knife out of his vessel and dropped it to the floor.

Bobby lunged at Castiel with a steel pipe but the angel easily caught it. He turned and touched the man's forehead, inducing him to sleep. Bobby dropped to the ground unconscious. Castiel then turned his attention back to the Winchester. "We need to talk Dean. Alone," he said.

Dean quickly scrambled over to check on Bobby. Castiel allowed him to check on his friend while he examined a book on a nearby table. He glanced through and realized it was a book of spells. Castiel was tempted to burn such heresy but decided against it. It did have the spell that allowed them to summon him so maybe it was more useful in the Winchester's hands then as ashes.

"Your friend is alive," Castiel told Dean as he checked on his friend.

"Who are you?" whispered Dean.

"Castiel," answered the angel.

"I figured that much. I mean what are you?" snapped Dean.

Castiel turned to look at him when he said, "I'm an angel of the Lord."

Dean stood up with disbelief in his eyes. "Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing," he said.

"This is your problem Dean. You have no faith," sighed Castiel. He expanded his true form out of his vessel, conjuring up an image of wings over the sudden flash of thunder and lightning. It ended quickly as Dean couldn't see an angel's wings for too long or his eyes would burn out.

"Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes," pointed out Dean.

"I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be overwhelming to humans and so can my real voice. But you already knew that," Castiel spoke.

"You mean the gas station and the motel? That was you talking? Buddy next time lower the volume," grumbled Dean.

"It was my mistake. Certain people can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them but I was wrong," explained Castiel.

"And what visage are you in now? Holy tax accountant?" asked Dean.

"This is a vessel," answered Castiel.

Dean glared at him, "You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this," replied Castiel.

"Look pal I'm not buying whatever you're selling so who are you really?" demanded Dean.

Castiel frowned, starting to lose his patience. "I told you," he said.

"Right," scoffed Dean. "And why would an angel rescue me from hell?"

"Good things do happen Dean," said Castiel.

"Not in my experience," replied Dean. Castiel stepped closer to the human, not understanding. Dean didn't feel he deserved to be rescued. After all the good he's done in the world, he doesn't believe he was worth saving from damnation.

"What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved," said the angel. Castiel was starting to feel sympathy for the first time in a long time.

"Why'd you do it?" asked Dean.

"Because God commanded it. We have work for you," answered Castiel.

(Next chapter will be short but have important dialogue between Dean and Castiel regarding Bela and how far Dean will go to get her out of hell. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)


	10. Are You There God? It's Me Dean

Dean Winchester imagined thousands of possibilities for him to get out of his deal. Most of them were ludicrous and ridiculous but he considered each and every one of them most probable then being rescued out of hell by an angel. Dean's instincts told him this was all some kind of trick. That this Castiel was some kind of super demon trying to manipulate him the same way Ruby tried to do with Sam. But that didn't couldn't possibly be true. Castiel walked through dozens of different Devil's Traps in the barn, salt didn't even phase him, and Ruby's knife didn't hurt him in the slightest. That's something even Lilith couldn't do. And after putting Bobby to sleep, the so called angel told him that God had work for him.

"I'm sorry. God as in the all-powerful CEO of the universe needs my help?" frowned Dean.

"He has an important task for you," Castiel nodded.

"And what the hell could that possibly be?" asked Dean. He found it a little curious how the so called creator of the universe needs little insignificant Dean Winchester's help.

"You don't need to know yet," Castiel stated.

"I don't need to know yet? I don't know how things work up in Cloud City but down here on Earth if you want somebody's help, you don't string 'em along," snapped Dean.

"You will know more when it is time. But until then you must prepare yourself. A war is coming," Castiel replied.

"What Heaven vs. Hell? Thought that was kind of obvious," grumbled Dean.

"Right now my brothers and sisters are waging war against demons across the planet but make no mistake that these are only skirmishes compared to what will come. We've caught them off guard but now they are regrouping and replenishing their numbers," explained Castiel.

All the while the so called angel explained a thought popped in Dean's head. "Did you rescue anybody else?" he asked.

Castiel shook his head, "You were the only one."

"Dammit there were dozens of people down there more worthy of rescuing then me!" snapped Dean.

"Our mission was to rescue you. No one else," said Castiel.

"Why me? Why not someone else?" sighed Dean.

"I told you. God commanded it," Castiel reminded him.

"Then he is screwed up in the head because I'm not worth saving," Dean said. The memories were hazy but he remembered everything that happened in Hell. The torture, the pain, the screams, at first they were just his own then they were his victims. One by one he stabbed, maimed, burned, disemboweled, and numerous others means of torture through the damned. The demons saved the worse for last and cheered on as Dean tortured Bela to a laughing crowd. The things he did to her…Dean deserved to be put right back in the pit.

"It is not God who is at fault. It is your limited understanding of the grand design," Castiel stated.

"Screw your grand design. I'm not doing anything for you until you bring Bela back," demanded Dean.

"Abigail Grayson made the choice to sell her soul. She knew the consequences of such an act," Castiel said.

"She was a desperate frickin kid! Do you have any idea what kind of hell she grew up in?" shouted Dean.

"Terrible things happen to people all over the world Dean. Not all of them sell their souls," Castiel spoke without an ounce of sympathy in his voice.

"Yeah and you people sure do a great job helping them all out!" snapped Dean.

"We are here now," replied Castiel. He glanced his head up as if hearing or sensing something. "I am needed elsewhere. We will speak again," Castiel added. Before Dean could say anything, the so called angel disappeared right before his eyes.

* * *

After waking up Bobby and driving him back to his house, Dean called up Sam and waited until he showed up before they finally discussed what happened. Dean didn't believe his younger brother's story about leaving earlier in the night to get a burger but decided to let the matter slide. They had bigger problems at the moment like this so called angel named Castiel.

Sam was almost overjoyed when he heard the news. As far as he was concerned, this was a good thing. Finally they'd have a little backup for once in this fight. Dean on the other hand wasn't so optimistic. These so called angels just decided now to join the fray when they could have helped god knows so many other times. Demons didn't even seem to know who Castiel even was which means nobodies been seen or (pun intended) touched by an angel for probably a very long time. The conversation changed to the existence of God which probably meant yes if there are angels. Of course if he did exist, Dean wanted to punch the prick. All the terrible things that happened in the world and he doesn't raise a finger to stop any of it.

Eventually the philosophical debate turned into a book club with anything with Angel lore in it. Dean sent Sam out to get pie and while he was gone, Bobby tried calling up an old friend of his in Nebraska, Olivia Lowry. She hadn't returned any of his phone calls for the past three days and that wasn't like her. Dean, all too happy to get out of book reading, suggested they go check up on her. Once Sam got back, the three headed to Olivia's house and found her a bloody mess. Something tore her apart like a wild animal.

Bobby tried calling up some hunters that lived nearby but they weren't answering their phones either. Dean and Sam headed to check on a hunter named Jed but he was ripped up as badly as Olivia. Bobby checked on two other hunters and they were dead too. Something was up and the three agreed to regroup at Bobby's house. On the way back, Sam needed to go to the little boys' room while Dean searched the gas station for some pie. What should have been a quick stop turned into life or death when the ghost of Meg Masters, the host of the demon Meg, tried to kill Sam. Lucky for him Dean heard the commotion and came running in with a shotgun. After shooting the ghost with two salt rounds and getting out of the store before the employees called the cops, the two tried calling Bobby but no answer.

The Winchesters raced back home and searched his property, splitting up. Dean checked the upstairs and was attacked by the ghost of Ronald Reznick, the paranoid man who took a bank hostage to try and catch a shapeshifter only to get killed by a police sniper. Dean was lucky enough to shoot an iron chandelier down on top of him. After Sam rescued Bobby, the three headed to the basement where Bobby had a ghost proof panic room. Apparently the man had a weekend off. Sam and Dean both saw the same symbol on the ghost's hands. It wasn't a tattoo and neither of them had it on them while they were alive.

While Sam and Dean stock up on salt rounds, Bobby tries researching the symbol and hits pay dirt. It was called the Mark of the Witness. All of them were witnesses of the unnatural and died unordinary deaths. These ghosts were forced to rise from some powerful spell. What's worse was that this was all part of some ancient prophecy from Revelations. In other words, this was a sign of the end times. The frickin apocalypse itself. As bad as that sounded, they had to get their priorities straight. First they needed to deal with these ghosts.

Bobby found a spell that could put the ghosts back to rest but of course there was a catch. Everything they needed to perform wasn't in the panic room. That meant they needed to gather up the materials and conduct the ritual at the fireplace, all the while probably getting swarmed by angry spirits. Making a mad dash for the materials almost got them all killed but they got what they needed and Bobby started the ritual. Dean and Sam fired off salt rounds left and right as the ghosts were all trying to rush them. The three barely survived but they completed the ritual laid the Witnesses to rest.

* * *

Night came and everyone was exhausted. Bobby nearly had his heart ripped out by Meg so he hit the sack early. Sam slept on the couch in the living room while Dean got the floor. Why didn't he ever choose something other than scissors whenever they play rock paper scissors? Dean was almost glad he was on the floor. Maybe he wouldn't get any sleep at all. That might sound terrible for some people but after the nightmares he's been having, Dean preferred insomnia. All those things he did to those people in Hell and Bela…the things he did to her was inhuman. He didn't deserve to be walking on this planet again after what he did. And yet Dean's the one that gets a free pass out of Hell while everyone else suffers.

He waited until he was certain Sammy was asleep then quietly grabbed his keys, a small box, some graveyard dirt, and a bone from a black cat. All the stuff had mystical properties so Bobby kept things like that all over his house. Of course the man would have put them in a safe if he knew what Dean was about to do with them. Dean drove to the nearest Crossroad he could find and buried the box with all the material along with a picture of himself. He knew Sam was going to hate for doing this all over again but Dean just couldn't take this. He had to make it right.

Dean didn't need to wait long before a woman with dark hair appeared behind him. "Well this is a surprise. I have to say when I got up this morning, Dean Winchester summoning me was the last thing I expected to happen," she chuckled.

"I want to make a deal," said Dean.

"You want to make another deal? Angels are popping up and now I get the first ever repeat customer in demonic history? What is the world coming to?" the demon laughed.

"Shut up. I want my soul for Bela's. I only want enough time to confirm she's alive and well then you can do whatever you want with me," Dean said firmly.

The demon threw him a look. "Where's this passion to save that woman coming from? Are you in love with me?" she asked and Dean didn't give her the satisfaction of an answer. "Wait. It's not love that's driving you to do this, it's guilt," the demon realized and slowly smiled.

"I remember you Dean from the Pit. You were quite the superstar. Alastair's big new up and comer. Dean-a-mania was running wild down there. Watching humans torture other humans is the ultimate entertainment for us. You drew some huge crowds. Thousands would gather round to watch you play with your latest victim and boy you were good. But the one time you would set an attendance record was when Alastair brought out that wimping…" the demon mocked until Dean rushed forward and pulled out Ruby's knife, putting the blade to the demon's neck.

"If the next word out of your mouth isn't yes, I swear I will kill you and give the same deal to someone else," Dean warned her.

"Okay then. You want to damn yourself again, who am I to stop you?" the demon smiled. She was about lean forward for a kiss when suddenly she gasped and screamed. Her eyes and mouth lite up like flashlights as Dean staggered back. It was only then did he realize that someone was holding the demon by the head. Not just someone but rather something. The angel Castiel. The light subsided and the demon dropped to the ground, lifeless with burnt out eyes.

"I did not raise you just for you to condemn yourself again," Castiel said.

"Where the hell have you been? Hunters were getting killed left and right today. I nearly got killed with Sam and Bobby and you just show up now!" shouted Dean.

"I was needed elsewhere but I was eventually made aware of your situation. Besides you did well," commented Castiel.

"Yeah but what Olivia Lowry, Jed, and all the others who got killed?" growled Dean.

"This is war Dean and in war there will always be casualties," stated Castiel.

"Spare me the pep talk Michael Landon. I thought angels were supposed to guardians with fluffy wings and halos. Not dicks," snapped Dean.

"Read the bible," Castiel said. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Then why didn't you fight?" demanded Dean.

That comment seemed to have struck a nerve in the angel. "I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns," said Castiel.

"Concerns? People were getting torn to shreds down here!" Dean tried to keep his voice down but he couldn't help it. "And by the way while all of this is going on, where the hell is your boss? If there is a God?"

"There is a God," Castiel said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not convinced cause if there's a god, what the hell is he waiting for? Genocide? Monsters roaming the Earth? The freaking Apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?" demanded Dean. For the first time since Dean had seen him, Castiel look frustrated. Was he angry by the human's remarks or was it something else? Doubt? Confusion?

"The Lord works…" Castiel tried to say but Dean wouldn't let him finish.

"If you say mysterious ways, so help me I will kick your ass," Dean interrupted. Castiel didn't say anything as if to mean he wasn't going to have this argument. Fine, they needed to talk about something else anyways. "Do you know what happened during the four months I spent in Hell?" he asked.

"Yes," Castiel answered.

"Then you know why you made a mistake. All the things I did down there…" Dean said.

"We don't make a mistakes Dean. You are needed here," said Castiel. Dean was getting sick of the angel's inability to ever give a straight answer.

"Then why me?" demanded Dean. The angel didn't give him an answer. "Fine I'll just find another Crossroad Demon!" Dean snapped. He turned to walk away but found Castiel had teleported directly in front him.

"That won't work. I've told the rest of my garrison to seek out other Crossroad Demons and warn them not to bargain with you," said Castiel.

"What are you highway patrol? Just giving them warnings? You should be killing every last one of those sons of bitches!" shouted Dean.

"Killing every demon is not our priority. As I said before we have larger concerns," stated Castiel.

"Feel like sharing them or does the lowly human not need to know?" grumbled Dean.

"You do need to know. The rising of the Witnesses is one of the 66 seals," answered Castiel.

"I'm guessing that's not a show at SeaWorld," quipped Dean.

Castiel ignored his joke. "Those seals are being broken by Lilith," he said. Well that certainly explains who started this whole mess and why the ghosts were attacking hunters. Lilith probably had a lot on her plate now that angels were back in town so she wanted to get rid of as many hunters as possible so she only had to deal with her new problem.

"She did the spell. She rose the Witnesses," Dean said his thoughts out loud.

Castiel nodded, "And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they could barrel right after us," said Dean. It was also had a psychological effect on the hunters. They probably hesitated seeing the victims they couldn't save. It certainly worked on Dean, Sam, and Bobby.

"Lilith does have a certain sense of humor," commented Castiel.

"Well we put those spirits back to rest," pointed out Dean.

"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken," Castiel replied.

"Why break the seal anyway?" asked Dean.

"You think of the seals as locks on a door. When the last one opens, Lucifer walks free," Castiel answered.

Dean frowned, "Lucifer's just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Three days ago you thought there was no such thing as me," Castiel pointed out. So Bobby was right. The Witnesses was a sign of the Apocalypse. "Why do you think we are here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years? To stop Lucifer and to do that we have to safeguard the seals. Our numbers are not unlimited and we haven't won every battle. Nothing else matters except the seals. That is why we couldn't stop the Witnesses from killing your friends."

"Well if you need help with these seals then get Sam or Bobby or Ellen or Jo or any other hunter on the frickin planet. You don't need me for any of this," said Dean.

"God commanded us to rescue you from Hell. You're more important than me or any other angel in this world," stated Castiel.

"Like I said. Your god screwed up," replied Dean.

Castiel glared at him, probably the first time Dean's ever seen him angry. "I lost six brothers rescuing you. Angels I had served with for millennia. They did not die for someone who is useless to our cause," he growled. It was somewhat frightening to see Castiel like this.

"How many more times do I have to say it? I'm not your guy. I don't care what God wants with me. All I want to make at least one thing right before I die," Dean challenged him.

Castiel didn't back down. "You would throw your life away for one woman at the expense of billions?" he asked.

"You just killed a demon by touching it. I'd say you and your buddies will get through this just fine without me," said Dean.

"And what of Sam and Bobby?" asked Castiel.

"They don't need me. They'll keep on fighting," answered Dean. They'll be pissed at him no doubt but this isn't their choice. It was Dean's.

Castiel sighed, "I should have removed those memories of your time in perdition. I thought they would motivate you to fight harder but I was wrong." Dean didn't know they could remove memories but he guessed they could mess with human minds. He didn't remember completely what he did but slowly over the past few days the pieces came back. All the atrocious and horrific moments.

"You weren't wrong about that. I want to fight but every second I'm doing that, Bela is down in hell being tortured in ways I can't even describe. So yeah I might not be saving a billion lives and you can call me selfish but right now I don't care about any of that. I don't know how but I'll find a way to exchange my soul for Bela's and I won't stop until I do," Dean said.

He was about to walk past Castiel again but the angel just teleported right in front of him again. "You won't find one Dean. The only way you can rescue her is through us. Do as you are told, complete the tasks we require of you, and we will bring her back," Castiel said.

"Are you blackmailing me you son of a bitch?" snapped Dean.

"You just tried to do the same with me. Serve us or Abigail will rot in hell for eternity," Castiel threatened before teleporting away.

(I know some people might not like what Castiel did here but remember this is the same angel who threatened to throw Dean back in hell just because he felt disrespected. Right now Cas is interested in gaining Dean's cooperation and will do anything to achieve that. Going to skip ahead a few episodes as nothing is really different for them. Don't worry though. Bela will show up again sooner then you think.


End file.
